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Received         -^ysfi/***^      •  !^9^- 
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TRAJAN: 


THE    HISTORY    OF    A    SENTIMENTAL    YOUNG    MAN, 
WITH  SOME   EPISODES  IN    THE    COMEDY   OF 
MANY  LIVES'  ERRORS. 


A  NOVEL 


BY 

HENRY  F.  KEENAN 


NEW  YORK : 

CASSELL  &  COMPANY  LIMITED 
1885 


COPYRIGHT, 

1885, 
BY  O.  M.  DUNHAM. 


All  Rzghts  reserved- 


TO 

MAJOR  HENRY  A.  HUNTINGTON, 
OF  CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS. 


In  the  works  of  the  Queen  Anne  writers,  whom  you  adore,  and 
whose  convivial  humanities  you  have  done  so  much  to  rescue  from 
forgetfulness, — the  dedicatory  epistle  was  not  the  least  of  the 
author's  thought.  Twas  meant  as  the  quintessence  of  the  odor 
and  color  of  the  garden — kindly  incense  of  amity  and  admiration, 
hinting  to  the  world  the  originals  of  the  virtues  embalmed  in  the 
text.  If  I  hint  this  identification  in  your  case,  with  whatever  may  be 
found  admirable  in  these  pages,  your  own  modesty  may  resent  it, 
but  your  friends  will  applaud ^the  indiscretion  of  embalming  some  of 
the  traits  which  endear  you  to  men  of  gentle  mind.  While  I  cannot 
hope  to  equal  the  exquisite  wit  of  the  works  you  have  so  felicitously 
commented,  I  can  at  least  emulate  their  authors,  in  the  hearty 
loyalty  with  which  I  dedicate  this  first  fruit  of  literary  leisure  to 
you.  I  have  long  looked  forward  to  the  time  when  some  work  of 
my  head  and  heart  should  bear  your  name  on  the  frontispage.  It 
is  an  amiable  vanity,  which  I  hope  you  will  take  in  good  part,  and 
though  the  pundits  you  revere  put  more  wit  in  the  ingratiating 
epigraphs  to  their  patrons,  none  subscribed  their  tribute  with  more 
hearty  affection  and  admiration  than  is  implied  in  this  long  cher 
ished  homage  of  the  friend  of  your  youth. 

H,  F.  K. 

NEW  YORK,  Feb.,  1885. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

I.  VIA  DOLOROSA         ....  i 

II.  BREAD  CAST  UPON  THE  WATERS       .  14 

III.  IN  THE  CAFE  VOLTAIRE     .           .           .  *          28 

IV.  STATE  SECRETS  .                                 .  34 
V.  "TRAJAN'S  WAY"    .  .46 

VI.  TRAJAN  RENEWS  HIS  YOUTH  ...         60 

VII.  THE  HOUSE  OF  ARDEN       .           .           .  .75 

VIII.  THE  CARNOTS   .  •   ,       99 

IX.  THEO  REVIVES  THE  FAMILY  FORTUNES  .       .115 

X.  A  FRIEND  AT  COURT  .           .           .  .          132 

XI.  AN^OCEAN  EPISODE            .           .           .  .153 

XII.  THE  SIREN  SINGS  UNDER  THE  MAST  .          165 

XIII.  "EVERY  DOOR  is  BARRED  WITH  GOLD"  .  180 

XIV.  THE  CLUB  OF  THE  THIRTEEN  THIRTEENS  .          194 
XV.  A  CHATEAU  AT  CRE"CY       .           .           .  .207 

XVI.  THEO  RESUMES  THE  COMEDY           .  .         221 

XVII.  THE  WOLF  IN  THE  FOLD  .           .           .  .240 

XVIII.  THE  RAVINE  OF  REVECHE       .           .  .          258 

XIX.    "  HOME  THEY  BROUGHT  HER  WARRIOR   DEAD  "   .    280 

XX.  THE  AMBER  ELVES       .  292 

XXI.  PRINCE  CHARMING'S  WOOING       .           .  .314 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER. 


PAGE. 

XXII.  "  To  BE  WROTH  WITH  ONE  WE   LOVE  DOTH 

WORK  LIKE  MADNESS  IN  THE  BRAIN,"       .  337 

XXIII.  AN  ESSAY  IN  ^SOP  .  .  353 

XXIV.  TRAJAN  GOES  TO  COURT  .  .  37° 
XXV.  CESAR'S  FORTUNES  .           .            .  385 

XXVI.  AN  IMPERIAL  VICTIM       .  .  4°6 

XXVII.  A  TANGLED  WEB      .  421 

XXVIII.  A  MISSION  TO  THE  KING           .  .  431 

XXIX.  TRAJAN'S  KNIGHT  TAKES  THE  KING'S  PAWN    447 

XXX.  A  MASQUE  OF  CUPID      .           .  .464 

XXXI.  JULES  GOES  OUT  TO  SHEAR  AND  is  SHORN  488 

XXXII.  LIKE  A  TALE  THAT  is  TOLD     .  .  498 

XXXIII.  HORROR'S  HEAD         .  5!9 

XXXI?.  TRAJAN  PLAYS  A  NEW  ROLE    .           .  .  536 

XXXV.  IN  THE  LION'S  MOUTH  57 l 

XXXVI.  THEO  PLAYS  HER  LAST  CARD    .           .  .  589 

XXXVII.  IN  LA  ROQUETTE      .                      .  6°9 

XXXVIII.  VIA  ALLEGRO 633 


TRAJAN. 

CHAPTER  I. 

VIA     DOLOROSA. 

WHEN  this  century,  from  which — bearing  in  mind  its 
experience  —  better  things  were  expected,  was  at 
three-score  and  ten,  proving  the  truth  of  the  adage  that 
there  is  no  fool  like  an  old  fool,  the  events  of  which  these 
pages  are  the  history  came  to  pass — a  time,  as  you  see, 
within  the  memory  of  lads  now  turning  their  teens  and 
maids  still  deep  in  the  plot  of  that  old,  old  story,  always 
sweetly  new  !  The  time  was  the  twelve  months  between 
May,  1870,  and  May,  1871  ;  the  place  Paris  ;  the  personages 
whose  fortunes  you  are  to  follow,  Americans.  The  event 
that  linked  their  destinies — coincident  with  the  prologue  of 
a  momentous  drama,  during  whose  action  the  world  held  its 
breath.  It  was  mid-afternoon  on  such  a  May  day  as  is  seen 
only  under  Parisian  skies.  But  the  invitation  of  the  sky 
could  not  alone  account  for  the  multitudes  thronging  the 
leafy  park,  the  blooming  parterres  of  the  gardens  and  the 
broad  ways  of  the  Champs  Elysees.  The  Court  was  about  to 
set  out  for  St.  Cloud,  and  the  pleasure-loving  Parisians  were 
to  be  treated  to  a  spectacle.  Gorgeous  lines  of  soldiery 
formed  in  statuesque  ranks  along  the  pebbly  walks  and  hot 
asphalt  ways  facing  the  palace.  Save  for  the  waving 
plumes,  the  glistening  wall  rested  immobile  and  silent  as 
the  granite  sphinxes  whose  solemn  eyes  blinked  sleepily 
under  the  ardent  sunshine.  There  was  just  the  perception 


2  TRAJAN. 

of  a  movement  in  the  shining  cuirasses  as  the  swelling  notes 
of  a  cavalry  bugle  echoed  and  re-echoed  in  sonorous  blasts 
through  the  crowded  aisles  of  the  park  and  died  away  far 
over  the  turrets  of  the  palace.  The  refrain  was  caught  up 
and  prolonged  by  the  orchestras  shaded  in  the  vernal  allees 
of  the  gardens.  The  Imperial  Guards,  flaming  in  scarlet  and 
glittering  casques,  formed  in  serried  ranks  from  the  Rivoli 
gates  and  the  Place  du  Carrousel  to  the  borders  of  the  Seine. 
Outriders  in  the  magenta  and  gold  of  the  line  dashed  in 
excited  movement  along  the  graveled  roadway?,  adjusting 
the  obstacles  for  the  Imperial  advent.  Squadrons  of  the 
guards  formed  on  each  side  of  the  wide  way  through  which 
the  procession  was  to  pass  to  the  Champs  Elysees.  On  a 
signal  from  the  trumpets,  they  divided,  facing  their  horses 
inward  and  waited  immovable  as  the  Egyptian  figures  at  the 
golden  gates.  A  thin  column  of  smoke  curled  upward  from 
the  Arch  of  the  Carrousel  ;  a  loud  crackling  detonation  of 
artillery  announced  that  Majesty  was  about  to  leave  the 
palace  ;  another  that  Majesty  was  in  the  vestibule,  and  the 
long  line  of  fire  made  by  the  red-breeched  troopers  moved 
as  with  one  impulse  into  an  attitude  of  respectful  attention. 
From  the  middle  porch  of  the  Tuileries,  as  the  guards 
came  to  a  salute,  a  short,  stout  figure,  clad  in  a  gentleman's 
walking  dress,  appeared,  and  slowly  descended  the  velvet- 
carpeted  steps.  To  the  salutations  of  the  soldiers  and  popu 
lace  he  slightly  raised  his  hat,  and  came  downward  with  a 
painful  and  halting  step.  The  crowd  in  the  rear  broke  into 
a  shout,  "  Vive  V Empereur  !  "  Halting  as  the  lackeys  held 
the  door  of  the  landau  open,  the  Emperor  half  turned.  A 
lady,  tall,  slight  and  graceful,  appeared  in  the  group  at  the 
doorway.  She  was  speaking  with  animation  to  the  cham 
berlain,  with  her  face  to  the  multitude.  Her  eyes  were 
bright,  large  and  of  a  purplish  gray  color  full  of  life  and 
vivacity.  Her  hair,  coiled  in  great  masses  over  a  shapely 
head,  shone  like  burnished  copper  as  the  sunbeams  fell  with 
coruscating  effect  upon  it.  The  mouth,  long  and  partly  open, 


VIA  DOLOROSA.  3 

displayed  glistening  white  teeth,  and  lips,  perhaps,  a  trifle 
too  vermilion — for  the  lady's  age.  The  heavy  droop  of  the 
eyelids  gave  a  languorous  cast  to  the  otherwise  energetic 
physiognomy.  She  tripped  lightly  down  the  broad  steps,  a 
sunshade  in  her  right  hand  serving  as  a  walking-cane,  while 
in  her  left  she  upheld  with  charming  daintiness  a  robe  of 
silver-gray  color.  As  the  outlines  of  her  figure  became  dis 
tinct  on  the  crimson  carpet,  a  tumultuous  cry,  "  Vive  Vlm- 
peratricc!"  resounded  far  back  in  the  shrubberies  of  the 
garden.  The  lady  bowed  with  gracious  recognition,  and 
giving  a  hand  to  the  Emperor,  stepped  into  the  landau. 

At  the  same  moment  a  graceful  lad  of  fourteen  or  fifteen 
years,  mounted  on  a  jet  black  pony,  shot  out  from  the 
entrance  to  the  Carrousel,  and  riding  close  to  the  carriage, 
reined  in  suddenly,  and  taking  off  his  hat,  brought  it  down 
to  the  saddle  as  he  bent  to  the  occupants.  The  mother 
smiled  fondly  as  her  eye  rested  on  the  boy,  whose  face  was 
a  striking  counterpart  of  her  own.  "  Vive  Ic  Prince  Imperial !  " 
acclaimed  the  crowd,  and  the  Emperor,  Empress  and  Prince 
gravely  bowed  in  response.  The  trumpets  broke  into  another 
long  blast ;  the  postillions  touched  their  horses — Majesty  was 
e?t  route — the  prince  riding  beside  the  Imperial  carriage,  the 
troopers  falling  into  groups  of  fours. 

As  the  carriage  emerged  from  the  palace  garden  on  the 
banks  of  the  Seine,  you  would  have  sworn  the  inscrutable 
person  lolling  jadedly  on  the  cushions  was  in  some  subtle 
way  akin  to  the  solemn  figures  of  the  sphinxes,  whose  eyes 
seemed  to  open  wide  as  the  master  of  France  drove  by.  Had 
they  been  asked,  perhaps  they  would  have  solved  the  riddle 
many  men  were  pondering  even  then  in  what  seemed  the 
apogee  of  Csesarism.  Would  they  have  told  Caesar  that  he 
should  never  again  pass  those  fateful  portals  in  state  ? 

The  Parisians  afterwards  recalled  the  event  as  the  Romans 
apotheosized  the  sinister  journey  of  the  great  Julius  from 
the  tearful  pleadings  of  Calpurnia  to  the  base  of  Pompey's 
statue.  But  there  was  nothing  of  the  Ides  of  March  in  the 


4  TRAJAN. 

Emperor's  reception.  The  huzzahs  of  the  multitude  were 
spontaneous  and  hearty.  All  hats  flew  off  when  the  benig 
nant  smiles  of  the  Empress  supplemented  the  gracious  incli 
nations  of  Napoleon.  As  Eugenie  carelessly  examined  the 
acclaiming  groups,  her  radiant  smile  changed  unaccount 
ably,  as  though  something  incongruous  had  been  obtruded 
upon  her  sight.  She  leaned  over  to  the  Emperor,  shading 
both  faces  with  the  long  lace  fringe  of  the  parasol,  and 
whispered  in  his  ear.  With  a  gesture  almost  impatient, 
Napoleon  pushed  the  lace  from  before  him  and  followed  the 
direction  of  the  Empress's  gaze.  Those  nearest  the  carriage 
turned  also.  What  they  saw  I  can  not  tell,  but  what  they 
might  have  seen  was  this  :  A  young  man  leaning  negligently 
against  one  of  the  gay  pagodas  at  the  end  of  the  bridge  of 
the  Holy  Fathers,  presenting  a  curious  contrast  with  the 
fervid  enthusiasm  of  his  fellows.  The  effect  of  his  pose 
and  the  expression  of  his  face  were  something  sinister,  with 
out  being  malevolent.  His  eyes,  dark  with  a  changing 
blackness,  were  fixed  on  the  imperial  couple.  A  sneer, 
which  was  more  pitying  than  disdainful,  marred  the  admira 
ble  lines  of  the  countenance.  He  was  evidently  conscious 
that  the  imperial  eye  was  upon  him  ;  his  pale  cheeks  flushed 
and  his  eyes  darkened,  while  the  lines  of  his  mouth  deep 
ened  with  a  shade  of  the  malign  ;  but  the  eyes  glittered 
unshrinkingly  under  the  ordeal.  In  another  moment  the 
equipage  had  passed  beyond  him,  and  the  retinue  closed 
the  group  from  his  sight.  The  movement  of  the  crowd 
dislodged  him  from  his  leaning  posture.  He  started 
impatiently,  took  off  his  hat,  debated  inwardly,  and  then 
glanced  around  him  in  a  perplexed,  irresolute  way.  Pres 
ently  the  wide  street  was  empty.  He  crossed  the  roadway 
and  leaning  on  the  pedestal  of  one  of  the  sphinxes,  studied 
it  attentively  ;  then,  with  a  half-suppressed,  mocking  laugh, 
said  aloud  : 

"  You  at  least  do  not  add  hypocrisy  to  servile  baseness. 
You  do  not  shout  for  Caesar." 


VIA  DO LO ROSA.  5 

This  outspoken  apostrophe  in  the  English  tongue  aroused 
the  attention  of  a  neighboring  gendarme  on  duty,  who, 
laudably  suspicious  of  such  familiarity  with  the  imperial 
works  of  art,  or,  perhaps,  convinced  of  some  ulterior  design 
against  the  state,  came  over  and,  touching  the  young  man  on 
the  shoulder,  said  with  insinuating  politeness  : 

"  Monsieur  is  a  stranger  in  Paris  ?  May  I  have  the 
pleasure  of  inscribing  his  name  and  address  in  my  car-net. 
Monsieur  has  excited  the  curiosity  of  his  majesty's  officer 
of  the  day." 

The  young  man's  lips  curled  somewhat  disdainfully,  and 
apparently  misunderstanding  the  official's  zeal,  answered 
without  embarrassment  :• 

"Trajan  Gray,  painter,  Rue  Dragon,  29." 

"  Merci  bien,  monsieur,  Paris  likes  to  keep  track  of  its 
guests  and  warn  them  when  they  seem  to  be  making  false 
steps." 

The  gendarme  bowed  gravely  and  gave  the  young  man  a 
significant  look. 

Trajan  Gray,  thus  addressed,  was  about  to  reply  ;  then, 
thinking  better  of  it,  saluted  his  monitor  absently  and  set  out 
toward  the  bridge.  As  the  humorous  suggestion  of  the 
gendarme's  motive  flashed  on  his  mind,  he  laughed  outright. 
Resting  on  the  balustrade  of  the  bridge,  where  the  panorama 
of  the  Seine  spread  before  him  as  far  as  the  base  of  the 
Trocadero,  he  began  idly  to  contemplate  the  varied  monu 
ments  of  palatial  grandeur  and  picturesque  industry  lining 
its  banks  and  covering  its  surface.  He  seemed  only  vaguely 
conscious  of  the  grotesque  contrast  the  river  afforded,  as  it 
winds  its  way  through  the  heart  of  the  city.  He  diverted 
himself  in  following  the  surprising  commerce  its  shallow 
current  supports,  performing  the  most  unexpected  functions. 
He  counted  mechanically  the  garishly  dismasted  ships 
which  serve  as  bath  and  wash  houses  lining  every  rood  of 
the  banks  ;  then  set  himself  to  studying  the  tranquil  groups 
who  day  in  and  day  out,  many  months  in  the  year,  extract 


6  TRAJAN. 

from  the  shallow  waters  the  fish  that  supplies  the  humbler 
tables  of  the  city.  His  face  grew  more  troubled  as  he  con 
trasted  these  semi-aquatic  industries,  comparing  the  sordid 
thrift  of  the  river  toilers  with  the  affluent  indolence  of  the 
crowds  on  the  banks.  The  Parisian  is  fond  of  defining  him 
self  as  a  citizen  of  the  world,  born  to  a  heritage  of  such 
universal  knowledge  that  nothing  surprises  him  or  unduly 
stimulates  his  curiosity.  A  Turk  or  a  Mohawk  may  pass  on 
the  Boulevard  in  all  his  aboriginal  bravery,  and  the  genuine 
Parisian  would  no  more  turn  his  head  to  look  than  the  city 
fathers  who  confounded  the  Goths  in  the  Roman  Capitol. 
But  as  Trajan  Gray  stood  on  the  bridge  of  the  Holy  Fathers, 
his  body  bent  over  the  parapet,  many  a  passer  looked  at  him 
a  second  time  with  something  of  questioning  in  the  curious 
glance.  The  women  particularly  studied  the  shapely  out 
lines  of  the  figure  with  an  interest  somewhat  piqued  by  the 
young  man's  obvious  oblivion  and  easily  discerned  indiffer 
ence.  Some  of  them  ejaculated  pityingly  as  they  turned 
again  to  look  at  the  figure  : 

"  Tiens  !  another  for  the  morgue  to-night.  It's  a  pity,  too. 
That's  the  sort  that  should  live." 

For  the  Seine  suggests  death  or  traffic  only  to  the 
Parisians  who  seek  the  boulevards  and  the  populous 
places  for  loitering  or  pleasure.  To  them  there  is  a 
tragic  significance  in  such  an  attitude  as  Trajan's  that 
lovely  May  afternoon.  Even  the  gendarme  repented 
of  his  suspicion,  and  though  of  a  taciturn  and  unde 
monstrative  habit,  as  a  race,  approached  the  young  man 
with  an  evident  desire  to  placate.  But  Trajan  was  oblivious 
of  his  presence  and  heedless  of  his  kindly  scrutiny.  It  was 
a  face  that  told  much,  but  yet  what  it  told  was  not  conclusive. 
It  indicated  a  life  not  unacquainted  with  joyous  seasons,  pain 
and  defeated  hopes.  At  the  present  moment,  a  page  eloquent 
of  anguish  and  some  strong  but  covert  purpose  ;  a  face  that 
had  the  lines  that  guilt  or  sorrow  may  leave  on  young  faces  ; 
traces  of  inward  combat  that  mark  the  human  lineaments  as 


VIA  DOLOROSA.  7 

vaguely  as  storm  and  time  surfaces  exposed  to  their  havoc. 
For  it  is  in  the  prime  of  youth  that  guilt,  or  sorrow,  or  shame, 
or  the  dominant  passions  leave  their  most  permanent  tokens. 
In  the  middle-aged  or  the  elderly,  the  natural  forces  of  decay 
mingle  their  traces  so  congenially  with  the  marks  of  suffer 
ing  that  it  is  not  easy  to  say  whether  years  or  griefs  have 
wrought  the  ravages. 

Meanwhile,  Trajan,  unconscious  of  the  crowd  and  its 
speculations,  continued  abstractedly  studying  the  bustling 
scene  beneath  him.  Lumbering  omnibuses,  their  roofs 
laden  with  noisy  afternoon  tourists,  clattered  by,  the  long, 
circling  coil  of  the  driver's  whip  swinging  through  the  air 
close  to  the  young  man's  ears.  The  granite  roadway  shook 
under  the  passing  vehicles,  as  the  big  Norman  horses  were 
with  difficulty  reined  in  to  the  regulation  pace.  Squads  of 
students  from  the  neighboring  schools  of  Medicine,  Law, 
Divinity  and  the  Beaux  Arts,  passed  in  gay,  chattering  com 
panies,  retailing  the  freaks  of  the  class-rooms,  the  atelier 
and^the  clinics.  Faded  models,  their  scant  draperies  hastily 
readjusted,  dragged  themselves  wearily  along,  stopping  now 
and  then  to  look  down  at  the  fleets  of  bustling  little 
steamers  shooting  up  and  down  the  Seine — "  swallows " 
and  "  flies  "  as  they  are  not  inaptly  called — their  many- 
colored  smokestacks  puffing  hot  blasts  of  flame  in  the 
faces  of  the  unwary  gazers.  With  these  came  the  inces 
sant  train  of  slow-moving  fiacres,  laden  with  matronly 
shoppers,  burdened  with  spoil  of  the  Bon  Marche.  Here 
and  there  a  wondering  foreigner  stopped  the  throng,  ejacu 
lating  indignant  protest  against  the  drivers  whose  whips  and 
wheels  maliciously  endangered  the  inattentive  pedestrian  ; 
while  the  more  observant  stopped,  recognizing  the  Paris 
bridge  as  the  point  of  vantage  from  which  may  best  be  seen 
the  human  comedy  set  on  its  most  circumscribed  stage  ; 
where  the  by-play  takes  the  same  tone  and  volume  as  the 
main  narrative  ;  where  the  red  vest  and  tall  glazed  hat  of 
the  cocker  replace  the  paint  and  patches  of  the  clown,  and 
the  world  is  both  the  player  and  personage. 


8  TRAJAN. 

The  sun  passed  lower  and  lower  over  the  elms  of  the 
Tuileries  to  the  west,  until  the  crystal  panes  of  the  vast 
fagades  of  the  Medicean  palace  glowed  like  a  colossal  ori- 
flamme — a  signal  to  the  city  to  be  joyful  in  the  pride  of 
Caesar  passing  in  state  through  the  ranks  of  his  loyal  Parisi 
ans  yonder.  The  "swallows"  and  "flies"  on  the  Seine 
increased  in  number  as  the  afternoon  waned,  rushing  swiftly 
under  the  bridge,  deep  in  the  water  with  pleasure  parties 
from  the  river  resorts  from  Bercy  to  St.  Cloud.  Long  lines 
of  fishers,  of  both  sexes,  took  their  places  gravely  on  the 
pebbly  edge  of  the  water  in  the  shadow  of  the  high  bank. 
The  washerwomen  in  the  bathing-boats  scrubbed  and  sang 
more  energetically  as  the  grateful  shadows  reached  them. 
Life  took  on  its  most  careless  and  most  joyous  note,  labor 
itself  turning  into  a  sort  of  a  jocund  travesty  of  Parisian 
gayety.  From  the  Tuileries  garden  the  music  of  the  imperial 
bands  filled  the  air  with  delicious  harmony.  As  the  after 
noon  grew  older,  the  traffic  on  the  bridge  became  so  dense 
that  Trajan,  lost  in  dreams  or  intent  on  the  wonderful  life 
unrolled  about  and  beneath  him,  found  himself  jostled  and 
almost  crushed.  The  river  was  as  dense  with  life,  over 
every  wave  of  its  surface,  as  the  bridge  and  the  banks.  The 
eye  of  the  young  man  lingered  on  these  details,  though  they 
seemed  of  little  significance  to  him.  There  was  a  look  of 
yearning  as  he  scanned  the  waters  and  the  shores,  as  if 
uncertain  whether  to  make  egress  through  the  crowd  or  end 
the  struggle  in  his  mind  by  leaping  over  the  balustrade.  An 
old  man  far  below  him,  who  had  sat  patiently  dangling  a  line 
in  the  glistening  wavelets,  every  now  and  then  looked  up 
irritably,  and  at  last,  holding  the  pole  over  his  head  with  a 
squirming  bait,  half  nibbled,  shouted  : 

"  I  say,  young  fellow,  can't  you  move  on  to  some  other 
point  ?  You've  put  ill-luck  on  my  line,  with  your  staring 
eyes  and  hungry  look." 

Trajan  started,  and  a  slight  flush  of  color  came  to  his 
face.  He  dropped  his  arms,  turned  and  looked  vaguely 


VIA  DOLOROSA.  9 

at  the  flaming  line  of  the  Tuileries,  whose  lurid  glow 
seemed  to  threaten  him,  hesitated  for  a  moment,  as 
if  to  go  toward  the  music,  then  clasping  his  hand  over 
his  face,  turned  his  back  on  the  Seine  and  its  obtrusive 
and  tumultuous  life,  and  elbowing  his  way  with  difficulty, 
started  toward  the  Latin  quarter.  At  the  end  of  the  bridge 
he  stopped,  and  began  to  turn  over  the  volumes  of  a  book 
stall. 

"  Be  off,  you  troublesome  canaille." 

Trajan  turned  and  saw  a  little  boy  cowering  before  the 
keeper  of  the  book-stall. 

"  I  am  hungry,"  answered  the  child  ;  "  give  me  a  sou  to 
buy  bread  ?  " 

"  I  have  no  sou  for  you,"  said  the  man  ;  "  be  off  !  " 

"  Stay,"  said  Trajan  ;  "  here  is  a  sou." 

The  little  fellow  clutched  it  eagerly  with  a  volley  of 
thanks. 

"  You're  only  wasting  your  money,"  said  the  bookman, 
shrugging  his  shoulders  ;  "  he  comes  here  every  day." 

"  There  can  be  no  waste  where  there's  no  want.  He 
needs  the  sou,  and  I  don't." 

Trajan  resumed  his  course  toward  the  Palais  Mazarin.  He 
stopped  with  curious  deliberation  and  scrutinized  the  placard 
in  the  wire  cages,  under  the  groined  arches  of  the  palace, 
which  made  known  to  the  passing  world  that  the  seat  in  the 
company  of  the  "  Forty  Immortals,"  made  vacant  by  the 
death  of  Lamartine,  had  been  filled  by  the  choice  of  Napo 
leon's  prime  minister,  who  was  to  be  formally  received  the 
month  following.  The  brooding  cast  of  the  youth's  face 
changed  into  a  look  of  angry  scorn  as  his  eye  caught  the 
context. 

"  Faugh  !  "  he  muttered.  "  The  eagles  of  Richelieu  trans 
formed  into  owls  and  bats — immortals  only  in  sycophancy 
and  infidelity  to  their  country."  Then,  with  a  shrug  of 
impatience,  he  turned  on  his  heel  and  passed  out  from  under 
the  gloomy  crypt  into  the  daylight  of  the  Rue  de  Seine.  In 


10  TRAJAN. 

the  quaint  cul-de-sac  of  this  old  street,  with  the  swarming 
life  of  the  Quai  Voltaire  on  his  right,  and  the  silent  and  tor 
tuous  causeway-like  Rue  de  Mazarine*  on  the  left,  he  hesi 
tated  in  uncertainty,  as  if  in  doubt  which  of  the  three  ways 
to  take,  then  continued  up  the  Rue  de  Seine.  As  his  eye 
caught  the  colors  of  a  print-shop,  directly  in  front  of  him, 
he  halted  before  the  window,  studying  abstractedly  the 
engravings,  with  his  mind  evidently  faraway.  A  pretty  girl, 
seated  demurely  with  some  sort  of  light  work  in  her  hand, 
the  pensive  mistress  of  this  aesthetic  domain,  caught  sight  of 
the  pale  face.  She  studied  it  a  moment  coquettishly,  and 
then,  with  an  outbreak  of  sudden  industry,  caught  up  a  pic 
ture  from  the  counter  and  came  with  it  to  the  door,  where 
she  stood  on  tiptoe  attempting  to  hang  it  upon  a  hook  just 
above  her  reach  ;  but  the  young  man  did  not  seem  to  under 
stand  the  mute  appeal  she  cast  over  her  shoulder  as  the  work 
of  art  hung  suspended.  Turning  pettishly,  as  the  dreamer 
remained  unconscious  of  her  maneuver,  she  made  bold  to 
suggest,  with  faintly  disguised  pique  : 

"  If  Monsieur  wishes  to  examine,  we  have  large  collec 
tions  on  the  floor  above." 

Trajan  roused  from  his  reverie  started  confusedly,  and 
shaking  his  head,  turned  away.  The  discomfited  maiden 
retired  with  her  picture,  muttering,  "  There  is  another  of 
them  disappointed  in  love.  He's  very  handsome,  all  the 
same,  and  might  make  himself  more  amusing  than  wandering 
about  in  that  imbecile  way." 

Trajan  continued  up  the  narrow  street,  studying  with  appa 
rent  interest  the  rare  old  prints  and  the  endless  curiosities 
which  have  adorned  these  medieval  fronts  since  the  Latin 
quarter  became  the  haunt  of  the  scholastic  population  of 
Paris.  In  his  long  residence  in  the  city  he  had  seen  every 
shop  in  the  quarter  scores  of  times.  He  was  familiar  with 
every  atom  of  bric-a-brac  and  objet  d'art  exposed  to  the  criti 
cal  nomads  of  the  quarter.  He  knew  their  history  and  gen 
ealogy  as  well  as  their  owners,  but  to-day  he  dawdled  before 


VIA  DOLOROSA.  II 

each  bazar  as  though  he  had  never  set  eyes  on  them  before, 
or,  perhaps,  had  come  to  bid  them  hail  and  farewell.  The 
slanting  rays  of  the  sun  were  long  since  cut  off  by  the  high- 
gabled  roofs  and  the  narrow  street  curved  upward  like  an 
open  tunnel  until  lost  in  the  dim  outlines  of  the  Church  of 
St.  Sulpice.  He  quickened  his  pace,  though  still  going  aim 
lessly,  as  he  arrived  at  the  corner  of  the  Rue  de  Seine  and 
the  Rue  Jacob,  where  stands  a  little  cremerie  very  dear  to 
the  memory  of  many  an  honest  prodigal  who  studied  art  and 
mischief  in  Paris  during  the  last  half  century. 

Ah  !  kind  Madame  Bonjean,  where  are  the  ragouts  andpdt/s 
now  that  were  wont  to  bring  the  lads  of  the  university  in  hun 
gry  hordes  to  your  honest  door  ?  Where  that  excellent  wine 
of  Beaune  that  on  rare  days  regaled  the  reckless  young  devo 
tees  of  the  divine  art  ?  You  have  passed  away,  kindly  soul, 
and  the  secret  of  your  toothsome  dishes  is  gone  with  you, 
nor  has  your  successor  found  the  key  of  the  caves  of  the 
delicious  nectar  that  warmed  the  tissues  of  the  merry  com 
pany  that  made  your  hospitable  board  their  home.  In  this 
demure  and  kindly  inn  Trajan  had  broken  the  bread  of 
peace  and  tasted  the  salt  of  contentment  many  a  time.  Most 
of  the  joys  of  his  Paris  life  were  associated  with  its  modest 
but  dainty  board.  He  stopped  irresolutely  before  the 
familiar  windows.  Sounds  of  disputation,  jokes  and  laugh 
ter  came  from  within.  He  turned  suddenly,  as  if  by  an 
impulse  stronger  than  his  purpose,  and  passed  over  the 
threshold. 

"  Bon  jour,  Monsieur  Trajan  ;  "  and  Madame  Bonjean 
turned  with  empressement  as  she  sat  enthroned  in  her  comptoir. 
"  You  are  still  in  good  time  ;  your  friends  have  just  sat 
down,  and  the/<?/  au  croute  is  just  coming." 

Before  the  young  man  could  answer,  a  voice  at  the  other 
end  of  the  room  broke  out  in  friendly  excitement  : 

"  Sapristi !  it's  Trajan.  Where  have  you  been,  old  man, 
since  the  calends  ?  " 

These  hearty  salutations  seemed  to  discomfit  and  distress 


12  TRAJAN. 

their  object.  He  flushed,  waved  Ins  hand  with  constraint  and 
muttering  something  about  returning  again  later,  turned  pre 
cipitately  and  fled  as  if  he  feared  that  the  company  might, 
by  force,  impel  him  to  make  one  at  the  jolly  feast.  He  was 
almost  purple  and  out  of  breath  when  his  flight  ended  before 
the  stately  front  of  the  Palace  of  the  Luxembourg.  Enter 
ing  the  gate  he  continued  at  a  rapid  pace  through  the  court, 
the  blooming  flower-beds  and  clustering  foliage,  and  never 
slackened  his  step  till  arriving  at  the  Queen's  allee,  he  sank 
heavily  into  one  of  the  empty  banquettes.  From  this  point 
of  the  graveled  esplanade  could  be  seen  under  and  through 
the  trees  the  charming  open-air  life  of  Paris  in  every  atti 
tude  of  vivacious  movement.  The  terraces  were  thronged 
with  people  of  every  age,  rank  and  condition  engaged  in 
eager  enjoyment.  Trajan's  pale  face  reflected  something 
like  sympathetic  animation  as  he  realized  the  spirit  about 
him.  The  gambols  of  the  children  especially  and  the  solici 
tude  of  their  bonnes  aroused  his  interest. 

Bevies  of  little  ones  were  sailing  toy-boats  on  the  rippling 
waters  of  the  basin  into  which  the  plashing  streams  from 
the  tall  fountain  fell  with  a  tranquilizing  cadence  ;  others 
were  trundling  hoops,  flying  kites,  or  improvising  athletic 
games  of  divers  sorts.  It  was  a  world  of  infantile  merry 
makers,  disporting  with  the  thousand  and  one  wonders  that 
the  ingenuity  of  the  Paris  toy-man  fashions  with  the  fecund 
invention  of  the  fairy  god-mothers.  A  gayer  scene  or  one 
more  in  disaccord  with  the  melancholy  cast  of  Trajan's 
thought  would  be  impossible  to  conjure.  Exuberant, 
unrestrainable  enjoyment  of  health,  sun,  air  and  sound  limb 
on  one  side — on  the  other,  listless  brooding,  anguish  and 
unmistakable  despair.  Crouched  limply,  rather  than  sit 
ting  in  the  penumbra  of  the  shadow  of  Marie  Stuart,  it 
would  have  been  difficult  to  tell  the  cast  of  the  young  man's 
thought  ;  to  divine  whether  his  dejection  was  brooding 
every-day  care  or  irresolution  before  some  meditated  pur 
pose  ;  whether  uncertainty  or  determination  was  the  secret 


VIA  DOLOROSA.  13 

of  the  misery  the  face  revealed.  A  small  urchin  trund 
ling  his  hoop  against  the  legs  of  the  sitting  figure,  drew  back 
in  ludicrous  affright  as  the  large  eyes  fixed  themselves 
absently  upon  the  intruder.  The  nurse-maids,  trim  and 
debonnaire,  gathering  in  the  vicinity  lingered  to  scrutinize 
the  young  man. 

"  What  beautiful  eyes  !  "  said  one,  a  pink-cheeked,  laugh 
ing  gossip  ;  "  he  must  be  a  young  prince." 

"  A  curate  or  a  prince,"  amended  her  neighbor. 

"Oh,  no,"  responded  pink-cheeks,  sagely;  "he  would 
not  be  seated  here." 

"  Perhaps  the  Prince  of  Evil,"  whispered  the  first,  crossing 
herself  piously  :  "  were  ever  such  eyes  as  these  seen  in  a 
human  head  before  !  " 

"  I  will  forgive  the  eyes  for  the  hands,"  said  pink-cheeks, 
admiringly. 

The  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  gravel  straight  before  the 
young  man  so  intently  that  the  curious  maids,  following  the 
gaze,  started  in  affright,  as  if  half  expecting  to  see  an  uncanny 
spirit  responding  to  their  potent  signal.  They  saw  nothing, 
however,  but  a  small  urchin,  painfully  rearing  a  fabric  of 
pebbles  and  blocks.  Trajan's  eyes  followed  the  movements 
of  the  little  one  as  his  edifice  reached  a  pyramidal  form. 
Over-ambition  to  render  it  perfect  toppled  the  whole  mass 
into  wreck,  amid  the  shrieks  of  laughter  of  the  small  specta 
tors,  and  a  dismal  outcry  of  impatience  from  the  architect 
himself.  The  shouts  of  the  children,  the  babble  of  the 
confused  tongues,  the  liurry-skurry  of  the  ball-players,  the 
crunching  of  heels  on  the  light  gravel,  the  hurly-burly  of  the 
merry-go-ronnd,  the  scolding  of  Punchinello  as  he  whacked 
the  head  of  his  sweetheart,  and  all  the  manifold  jocund 
follies  that  make  up  an  afternoon  in  a  Paris  park  were 
drowned  suddenly  in  the  harmonious  crash  of  an  orchestra 
playing  from  the  center  of  the  grounds,  under  the  spreading 
chestnuts  a  few  yards  away.  With  a  flash  of  impatience, 
Trajan  arose.  The  soft  strains  of  the  music  seemed  to 


14  TRAJAN. 

irritate  him.  It  was  one  of  the  fragile  melodies  in  vogue  in 
the  last  days  of  the  Empire,  an  echo  from  the  bouffe  operas. 
The  young  man  seemed  to  resent  its  intrusive  lightness. 
He  passed  aimlessly  away  from  the  sound,  regarding  with  an 
interest  almost  comic  the  marble  figures  of  the  queens  of 
France,  which  give  the  name,  Queen's  Walk,  to  this  part  of 
the  Luxembourg  Gardens.  He  came  to  a  full  stop  before 
the  majestic  figure  of  the  Medici,  studied  the  pose  atten 
tively,  seeming,  however,  lost  in  the  twenty  generations  of 
French  history  embodied  in  the  composition  and  the  handi 
work  of  the  sculptor.  As  he  continued  from  one  to  the 
other  of  these  marble  dames,  from  the  bride  of  battle,  Anne 
of  Bretagne,  to  the  hapless  Antoinette  of  Austria,  his  face 
assumed  a  look  of  listess  interest,  or  rather  he  made  an 
effort  to  feel  it.  Turning  backward  he  passed  down  the 
marble  steps  that  lead  from  the  esplanade  to  the  fountain, 
halted  a  moment  among  the  infants  skurrying  along  the 
granite  brim  of  the  basin,  solicitous  for  their  tiny  argosies 
launched  on  the  smooth  bosom  of  the  water.  Resuming 
his  course  he  continued  on  until  he  reached  the  shaded 
thicket  on  the  right  hand  of  the  palace.  Here  he  seated  him 
self  before  one  of  the  blooming  patches  of  green-sward  where 
matronly  Parisians  and  good  natured  rentiers  lounge  of  an 
afternoon,  feeding  those  friendly  little  gourmands,  the 
sparrows. 


CHAPTER  II. 

BREAD    CAST    UPON    THE    WATERS. 

AS  Trajan  left   the  jarring  jocundity  of  the  scene  behind 
him  and   entered  the  tranquil    atmosphere  of  the  little 
amphitheater,  its  herbage   and    figures    looming  up  like  the 
objects  of  a  mirage  in  the  misty  radiance  of  the  afternoon 
sun,  he  grew  restful  under  a  subtle  pervading  influence  he 


BREAD  CAST  UPON  THE   WATERS.  15 

could  not  define.  His  inscrutable  face  lighted  for  a  moment 
with  animation  as  he  dropped  into  a  Vacant  seat.  Directly 
opposite  him  sat  a  young  man — a  unique  contrast  in  every 
belonging.  Trajan,  though  not  shabby,  was  in  that  state 
betwixt  genteel  poverty  and  well-to-do  ease  which  is  the 
most  deceptive  of  the  ambiguities  of  the  human  animal. 
From  his  dress  you  could  not  tell  whether  he  was  the  well-to- 
do  darling  of  a  doting  household  or  the  struggling  student 
living  on  painfully  gathered  dole,  whereas  the  young  man 
sitting  opposite  was  the  picture  of  easy  conditions.  Gar 
ments  not  gay  nor  rich  gave  you  an  impression  of  a  youth 
whose  only  care  for  his  outer  covering  was  the  selection  oT 
the  costume  he  should  assume  for  the  day.  There  was  an 
inexpressible  charm,  frankness,  loyalty,  ingenuous  good 
nature  and  winning  gayety  in  his  attitude  and  movement. 
Even  the  birds  seized  his  engaging  qualities,  for  they  swirled 
and  flocked  about  his  head,  ate  from  his  hand  and  even 
audaciously  pecked  at  the  crust  in  his  mouth. 

Trajan  watched  the  picture  and  became  unconsciously 
interested.  He  reflected  with  something  like  self-reproach 
upon  his  own  morose  indifference  to  the  simple  joys  which 
gave  such  evident  pleasure  to  the  happy  and  appreciative 
nature  of  the  other.  Insensibly  the  engaging  humor  of 
the  bird-feeder  penetrated  the  gloom  of  his  own  thoughts, 
and  for  the  time  all  that  was  sinister  in  the  expression 
first  seen  in  his  face,  as  his  gloomy  eye  fell  upon  the  Empress, 
disappeared.  The  one  touch  of  the  simple  nature  before 
him  acted  more  potently  than  the  gorgeous  and  varied  pano 
rama  of  life  in  which  he  had  taken  part  during  the  after 
noon.  Meanwhile  the  youth's  stores  are  consumed.  The 
birds  still  hover  over  him  in  clamoring  clouds.  He  laughs 
softly  and  makes  toward  the  gate,  the  more  resolute  of  the 
feathered  brood  circling  over  his  head  as  if  conscious  that 
he  was  going  to  replenish  the  coveted  store.  He  stops  at  the 
pagoda  of  La  Marchande,  as  the  lollypop  woman  that  pre 
sides  over  the  small  mountain  of  leaflets,  dirty  gingerbread 


1 6  TRAJAN. 

and  dubious  confectionery,  is  pompously  called.  She  beams 
benignantly  and  fills  the  paper  bag  with  the  little  loaves  that 
form  her  principal  staple  and  holds  them  out  to  her  client, 
who  shakes  his  head  good-humoredly. 

"  No  ;  that's  too  many.  The  little  beggars  have  been 
feeding  all  the  afternoon  and  can't  eat  much  more." 

"  But  Monsieur  Arden  can  give  the  rest  to  the  ducks  ; 
they  are  sadly  neglected." 

Arden  resigns  himself  to  this  specious  humanitarianism 
and  returns  with  his  spoil.  Trajan  watches  him  with  real 
interest — an  interest  that  has  fairly  transformed  the  melan 
choly  cast  of  his  countenance,  leaving  something  of  sadness, 
but  nothing  of  the  anguish  before  depicted  in  every  line. 
As  the  young  man  comes  toward  him  his  heart  leaps  for  a 
moment  with  the  hope  that  he  may  take  the  vacant  half  of 
the  bench  beside  him.  He  feels  an  almost  uncontrollable 
impulse  to  speak  to  the  stranger.  He  is  disappointed  in  his 
hope.  Arden  resumes  his  old  place,  almost  buried  under 
the  bevies  of  sparrows  fluttering  about  him.  His  posture  is 
full  of  a  winning  grace.  His  absorption  in  his  feathered 
friends  is  so  real  that  he  has  no  eye  for  the  other  envious 
feeders  unable  to  attract  more  than  sporadic  groups.  Trajan's 
face  almost  breaks  into  a  smile  as  he  watches  the  contrast 
and  notes  that,  notwithstanding  the  seductive  assiduities  of 
the  worldlings,  and  their  insinuating  efforts  to  tempt  the 
little  philosophers  to  their  abundantly  laden  hands  by  chirp 
ings  and  cooings,  the  awkward  ducks  alone  waddling  about 
respond  to  these  attentions.  The  Luxembourg  sparrow 
knows  his  real  friend,  and  refuses  to  receive  largess  from  the 
casual  comer  who  feeds  him  with  divided  mind  ! 

Why  do  I  linger  on  these  trifling  details?  Why  outline 
the  physiognomy  of  the  young  man's  surroundings  ?  Why 
interpret  the  thought  of  the  crowd,  the  intent  of  the  by-play 
that  fell  under  Trajan's  eye  that  May  day  ?  Because  every 
incident,  detail  and  outline  wrought  its  effect  upon  the 
young  man's  mind,  He  saw  a  larger  meaning  in  the  con- 


BREAD  CAST  UPON  THE  WATERS.  17 

trasts  that  beset  him  during  that  fateful  afternoon  than  he 
had  ever  dreamed  in  his  daily  familiar  intercourse  with  them. 
Subtle  voices  pleaded  with  him,  covert  forms  assumed 
meaning  and  force  they  had  never  possessed  before.  For  in 
his  rash  and  half-mad  helplessness,  Trajan  was  in  that  epi 
sodic  state  of  clairvoyance  when  the  brain  comprehends 
occult  meanings,  shrouded  from  the  healthier  mood,  when 
life  is  a  joy  and  death  a  remote  phantom.  He  was  in  the 
state  of  men  who  are  sinking  in  deep  waters  or  confronting 
a  certain  death.  It  is  to  make  comprehensible  what  pre 
cedes  and  what  follows  that  I  detain  the  reader  with  the 
photographic  reproduction  of  what  Trajan  Gray  saw  on  that 
May  afternoon,  and  because  all  these  things  produced  an 
effect  upon  the  young  man,  turned  his  mind  from  a  wild  and 
wicked  purpose,  brought  about  by  the  most  grievous  blow 
that  can  fall  upon  the  sensitive  and  undisciplined  heart. 

Trajan  watches  this  pastoral  play  with  continually-grow 
ing  conviction.  He  has  lost,  in  a  measure,  the  burden  of  his 
woe,  and  speculates  vaguely  on  the  qualities  and  antecedents 
of  his  neighbor.  As  the  sun  lowers,  the  northern  front  of 
the  granite  pile  of  the  Luxembourg  is  effaced  in  deep  shad 
ows,  while  the  light  pouring  over  the  western  side  throws  a 
soft  yellow  haze  on  the  intensified  green  of  the  shrubs  that 
cover  the  lawn.  The  gentle  plash  of  the  fountain  mingles 
its  music  with  the  chirping  of  the  sparrows  and  the  disitant 
strains  of  the  orchestra,  deadened  into  tremulous  echoes  by 
the  intervening  shrubberies  and  walls.  The  voice  of  a  girl 
singing  on  a  neighboring  balcony  comes  like  a  nightingale's 
song  when  the  moon  is  at  the  full  and  the  land  is  buried  in 
shadow.  The  atmosphere  is  heavy  with  the  odors  of  sum 
mer  flowers  in  the  blooming  parterres.  The  thick  columns 
of  spray  fall  like  showers  of  silver  from  an  unseen  cloud. 

The  children  are  leaving  their  play.  On  the  margin  of 
the  great  circular  basin  groups  of  little  ones  are  gath 
ering  in  their  fleets  from  the  glistening  bosom  of  the 
water.  Children  of  larger  growth  stand  and  busy 


1 8  TRAJAN. 

themselves  maneuvering  in  the  tiny  barks  to  shore,  throwing 
pebbles  behind  them  as  they  come  careening  homeward.  A 
soft  summer  wind — the  whispering  echo  of  a  breeze — stirs 
the  air.  The  distant  orchestra  breaks  into  the  last  air  of  the 
afternoon,  "  La  donna  e  mobile."  Arrested  for  a  moment  by 
the  strains  of  this  libertine  air,  Arden  pauses  with  a  small 
pyramid  of  bread  in  his  hand.  But  in  a  few  moments  the 
capricious  ingrates,  either  gorged  or  attracted  elsewhere, 
cease  their  clamors  and  disperse.  The  rest  of  the  bird- 
feeders  are  one  by  one,  departed.  The  sun  sank  lower  and 
lower.  The  music  ceased.  Long  files  of  nurses  with  their 
little  broods  passed  out  of  the  golden  gates,  chattering  and 
laughing.  Presently,  in  the  little  green  amphitheater,  Tra 
jan  and  Arden  were  left  alone.  The  latter  took  out  his 
watch,  looked  around  reflectively,  and,  seeing  no  more  mouths 
to  feed,  gathered  the  remnants  of  his  store  and  tossed  them 
under  the  lilac  bushes  beyond  him. 

"  You're  ungrateful  little  beggars,"  he  said,  half  aloud, 
watching  the  rear-guard  of  the  sparrows  fluttering  off  toward 
the  bushes,  chattering  and  chirping  in  a  bedlam  of  musical 
discord.  "You  will  go  to  the  first  shabby  Frenchman  who 
invites  you  when  I  am  gone  and  feed  from  his  hand,  just  as 
you  do  from  mine.  But  as  for  that,"  he  added,  "  we're  all  of 
the  same  trempe — men,  birds  and  beasts  are  alike  in  thanks, 
if  nothing  else."  As  he  spoke  a  sparrow  fluttered  painfully 
from  under  a  clump  of  geraniums.  One  wing  hung  limp 
and  broken.  The  little  creature  had  been  concealed  while 
the  more  lusty  groups  held  the  ground.  The  cripple  dragged 
itself  almost  to  the  young  man's  feet,  where  fragments  of 
the  bread  still  covered  the  grass.  It  hopped  about,  keeping 
a  constant  eye  alert  as  if  dreading  the  attack  of  some  intrud 
ing  tormenfor.  Arden  eyed  it  a  moment,  then  putting  out 
his  hands  filled  with  crumbs,  coaxed  it  to  feed  as  its  com 
panions  had  done  ;  but  the  wounded  creature,  evidently 
reminded  of  some  previous  treason,  skurried  back  under  the 
leaves,  its  broken  wing  impeding  its  flight  pitifully. 


BREAD  CAST  UPON  THE   WATERS.  19 

"  Humph  !  "  said  Arden,  "  I  shall  modify  my  axiom  ;  but 
as  one  swallow  doesn't  make  a  summer,  one  sparrow  can't 
change  the  force  of  a  great  truth." 

The  impulse  of  Trajan  to  accost  the  stranger  drove  every 
thing  else  from  his  mind.  He  arose  from  his  seat  with  the 
words  formed  on  his  lips — but  sank  back  in  dread.  On 
what  pretext  ?  What  would  the  other  think  ?  Repulse  him 
probably  with  disdain.  He  had  created  the  attributes  of  the 
young  man  in  his  mind.  A  generous,  sympathetic,  unsus 
picious  nature — but  even  such  a  nature  would  hardly  seek 
strangers  in  the  street  for  confidence  and  companionship  ! 
Arden  turned  meditatively  towards  Trajan.  His  eye  rested 
on  the  shrinking  figure  carelessly,  and  as  he  passed,  Trajan 
could  have  arrested  him  by  stretching  forth  his  arm.  If  his 
arm  had  been  chained,  it  would  not  have  been  more  impos 
sible.  Arden  passed  on,  happy  serenity  in  every  movement, 
humming  softly  an  air  from  "  Mignon."  But  as  if  the  over 
ruling  power  that  had  wrought  the  change  in  Trajan  still 
held  the  door  ajar,  the  young  man  stopped  as  he  turned  in 
the  circular  walk.  He  stooped  over  a  bed  of  odorous  helio 
trope,  and  as  he  put  out  his  hand  to  pluck  a  spray  he  glanced 
toward  the  figure  in  the  seat. 

His  hand  fell  to  his  side  as  he  stood  up  and  his  face  flushed 
crimson.  Trajan  had  risen  from  his  bench  and  had  taken 
the  seat  occupied  by  Arden.  By  what  impulse  he  was 
not  conscious,  but  once  there,  he  hurriedly  thrust  his 
hand  under  the  foliage  and  drew  forth  one  of  the  small 
loaves  left  from  the  birds'  banquet.  There  was  no 
overmastering  craving  to  eat,  hardly  a  pang  of  hunger,  for 
the  young  man  had  fasted  so  long  that  the  desire  for  food 
was  suspended  or  deadened.  But  with  the  bread  in  his  hand 
came  the  impulse  to  eat.  He  broke  the  crust  with  a  trem 
bling,  feverish  haste  and  devoured  the  pieces,  wondering  to 
himself  at  his  own  action.  He  was  impelled  by  an  instinct 
rather  than  a  purpose  and  was  not  in  a  condition  to  analyze 
either  the  act  or  its  motive.  It  was  a  simple  act,  but  its 


20  TRAJAN. 

effect  was  as  decisive  on  his  future  and  that  of  Arden  as  the 
most  controlling  action  of  long  studied  premeditation. 

This  was  the  sight  that  caught  Arden's  eye  as  he  bent  to 
pluck  the  blossom  in  the  transparent  twilight.  The  effect 
was  electrical  and  instant.  A  great  yearning  and  tender 
ness  came  upon  him.  He  was  very  young  ;  the  years  of  his 
life  had  known  no  bitterness.  Protection  and  love  had 
hovered  over  him  from  the  cradle  to  manhood,  and  instead 
of  making  him  selfish,  they  had  bred  gentleness  and  com 
passionate  sympathy  with  every  form  of  suffering.  Impulsive 
and  chivalrous  generosity  marked  every  act  of  his  life. 

It  was  a  saying  of  the  young  man's  sister,  that  Abu  Ben  Ad- 
hem's  name  in  the  angel's  book  of  gold  was  more  impressive  to 
her  brother  than  that  of  the  greatest  poet  or  hero  in  the  scrolls 
of  Time.  Hunger  and  poverty  are  not  rare  sights  in  a  great 
city,  but  hunger  and  want,  in  such  form  as  he  now  saw  them, 
had  never  come  to  his  eye  before.  He  was  strangely  stirred 
by  the  pathetic  misery  Trajan's  attitude  suggested.  He  saw 
the  young  man's  face  distinctly  and  read  refinement  and 
sensibility  there.  He  was  dimly  conscious  that  profligacy 
or  improvidence  had  no  share  in  the  distress  outlined  in  the 
marks  of  the  troubled  countenance.  He  instantly  resolved 
to  proffer  his  good  offices  to  the  stranger,  feeling  a  sort  of 
guilty  responsibility  in  the  other's  distress.  But  how,  under 
what  pretext  ?  To  boldly  offer  his  purse  he  felt  would  be  a 
cruel  mortification,  for  it  was  plainly  not  vulgar  want  that 
afflicted  the  object  of  his  good  intentions.  To  even  make 
known  that  he  had  seen  the  unfortunate  satisfying  his  hunger 
with  the  crusts  flung  carelessly  under  the  lilacs  would  repel 
and  humiliate  him,  while  to  be  the  resource  he  meditated  it 
was  essential  to  soothe  and  win  confidence.  These  thoughts 
flashed  through  his  mind  as  he  retraced  his  steps,  scrutiniz 
ing  Trajan  keenly.  His  own  inexperience  helped  him  in 
the  crisis,  for,  putting  himself  in  Trajan's  place,  he  argued 
that  he  would  not  take  it  amiss,  if  in  the  same  misery  he 
received  the  proffer  of  interest  and  friendliness. 


BREAD  CAST  UPOiV  THE   WATERS.  21 

"  He  looks  like  an  American,"  he  said  to  hjmself  ;  "  and 
a  man  with  such  a  face  can  not  be  an  adventurer.  He  must 
be  in  the  university,  and  if  he  be,  I  have  a  comrade's  claim 
and  a  countryman's  right  to  come  to  his  aid/'  Then,  with 
characteristic  decision,  as  he  quickened  his  pace,  "  I'll  be 
hanged  if  I  don't  speak  to  him."  But  in  spite  of  the  robust 
romance  that  inspired  this  impulse,  he  grew  less  confident  as 
the  determination  grew  more  decided,  and  would  even  then 
have  drawn  back  had  his  approach  not  committed  him  to 
intervention.  He  reached  the  bench  where  Trajan  had 
sunk  into  a  sort  of  collapse,  his  head  resting  on  his  arm 
thrown  over  the  back  of  the  seat. 

"  Pardon  me,"  said  Arden,  his  voice  a  little  tremulous, 
"  I  beg  you  won't  think  me  intrusive,  or  my  motive  curiosity, 
but  I  think  I  owe  you  a  good  turn,  if  only  in  the  Arab  creed 
that  we  are  bound  in  friendly  bonds  to  whomsoever  has 
shared  our  bread."  He  hesitated,  out  of  breath,  then  con 
tinued  in  a  tone  he  strove  to  make  natural  and  frank  :  "  I 
saw  you  a  moment  since — and — and — if  I  were  in  such  a 
plight,  I  should  think  pretty  poorly  of  the  man  who  could 
pass  by  without  a  sign,  or  the  proffer  of  a  helping  hand." 

Trajan  had  seen  Arden  turn  to  come  toward  him.  He 
knew  that  some  such  words  would  be  spoken,  because  he 
knew  that  were  the  case  reversed  he  would  have  done  the 
same  thing.  But  though  he  had  longed  to  speak  before,  he 
was  lost  in  an  overmastering  humiliation  now.  The  horror 
and  shame  of  his  sudden  impulse  to  eat  the  bread  rose 
before  him  as  a  barrier  to  every  thing  like  equality  with  the 
other.  He  was  powerless  to  turn  and  look  his  interlocutor 
in  the  face.  The  voice,  cordial,  frank,  melodious,  thrilled 
him  as  the  music  of  the  mass  thrills  the  shriven  sinner  at  the 
altar.  There  was  in  it  a  subtle  suggestion  of  a  comprehen 
sion  of  his  hideous  resolution  and  absolution  of  it,  the  touch 
ing  of  a  chord  that  human  agencies  reach  only  in  the  vital 
crises  of  life  when  the  heart  strings  are  charged  with  agony 
and  their  vibrations  open  the  fountain  of  tears.  He  raised 


22  TRAJAN. 

his  head  and  fixed  his  dark  eyes,  dazed  and  heavy,  upon  the 
face  of  the  embarrassed  Samaritan — but  his  lips  remained 
sealed. 

The  impulsive  philanthropist  was  more  perplexed  than 
ever.  He  was  prepared  for  almost  any  other  form  of 
wounded  susceptibility  than  this. 

"  Come,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  I  have  broken  the  bark  and 
I  will  get  to  the  fiber  now.  My  name,"  he  broke  out,  "is 
Elliot  Arden  ;  I  am  of  the  Law  School  of  the  Sorbonne,  and 
by  the  laws  of  its  camaraderie  I  have  a  right  to  be  your 
friend,  if  you  are,  as  I  think,  also  of  the  university  !  " 

He  waited  for  a  response.  Certainly  he  thought  this 
unreserve  must  win  his  confidence.  He  couldn't  imagine 
what  else  to  say.  As  Trajan  remained  speechless,  Elliot 
stood  confused  and  alarmed.  He  began  to  repent  his  im 
pulsive  advances.  He  thought  the  man  an  ingrate  to  subject 
him  to  such  an  ordeal.  The  dark  eyes  continued  fixed  upon  his 
face  ;  could  he  be  mad  ?  Then  Trajan's  head  fell  over  on 
his  breast,  his  two  hands  covered  his  eyes  and  Elliot  saw 
tears  trickling  through  the  long  thin  fingers.  Overcome  by 
this  spectacle,  the  unhappy  Elliot  dropped  into  the  seat 
beside  this  extraordinary  victim  of  over-susceptibility.  He 
waited  patiently  for  the  man  beside  him  to  reject  or  accept 
his  kind  intentions. 

The  sun  had  disappeared.  The  silver  circle  of  the  crescent 
moon  hung  far  away  over  the  golden  dome  of  the  Invalides. 
The  plash  of  the  fountains  in  the  still  air  sounded  like  the 
rush  of  the  river.  The  chattering  of  the  sparrows  sunk  into 
intermittent  chirpings.  Far  away  where  the  round  turret  of 
the  observatory  rose  in  the  clear  twilight  above  the  branches 
the  plaintive  opening  note  of  a  nightingale  soothed  the  ear. 
The  gravel  walks  of  the  garden  echoed  only  to  an  occa 
sional  step.  Paris  was  at  dinner,  and  the  interval  was 
the  quietest  of  the  day,  for  the  open-air  life  that  closes 
with  the  dinner  begins  again  so  soon  as  that  feast  is  fin 
ished. 


BREAD  CAST  UPON  THE   WATERS.  23 

Suddenly  Trajan,  removing  his  hands,  turned  to  Elliot 
and  found  voice  : 

"  You  must  think  me  an  ingrate  or  an  imbecile.  But  if 
you  knew  what  I  can  not  tell  you,  there  would  be  ample 
excuse  for  my  perverseness.  It's  only  fair  to  say  that  you 
have  misjudged  me  somewhat.  I  am  not  suffering  from 
penury,  though  it  is  true  that  it  is  more  than  twenty-four 
hours  since  I  have  eaten  any  thing.  The  interest  you  show 
in  me  deserves  fuller  confidence  ;  but  I  beg  that  its  refusal 
may  not  make  you  repent  your  action.  I  owe  it  to  you  to 
say  that  the  state  you  see  me  in  is  brought  about  by  no  fault 
of  my  own.  Unless,"  he  added  quickly,  "  a  man's  infirmity 
be  his  own  fault." 

"This  incident  to  you,"  continued  Trajan,  with  a  melan 
choly  smile,  "  has  the  novelty  of  the  unreal  and  romantic. 
But  for  me  it  has  a  meaning  that  I  shall  never  misconstrue 
during  the  years  of  my  life.  What  that  meaning  is  you  may 
some  day  learn  ;  what  its  significance  is  to  me  I  shall  take 
good  care  you  shall  never  forget." 

"  I  do  not  presume  to  speak  of  being  necessary  to  you.  I 
have  the  desire  to  do  by  you  as  I  should  expect  a  man  to 
do  by  me,  if  despondency,  treason  or  whal-not  had  over 
come  my  forces  of  resistance  and  combat." 

While  Elliot  uttered  the  last  words,  two  figures  approached 
the  bench  where  the  young  men  were  seated. 

"  Messieurs,"  said  one  of  them,  as  the  two  halted,  "  you 
have  been  seen  despoiling  the  herbage.  It  is  against  the 
law  to  touch  the  plants  in  the  public  gardens.  I  summon 
you  to  answer  before  the  commissaire." 

The  men  were  gendarmes,  and  had  either  seen  or  had 
been  informed  of  Elliot's  plucking  the  heliotrope — for  under 
the  Empire  official  eyes  and  ears  were  everywhere.  Explana 
tion  was  useless.  The  young  men  were  instantly  forced  to 
accompany  the  gendarmes  to  the  neighboring  station,  near 
the  Odeon  Theatre,  a  stone's-throw  from  the  palace  gates. 
Before  the  commissaire  a  book  was  opened,  and  the  names 
and  addresses  of  the  culprits  written  down. 


24  TRAJAN. 

"  Students,  are  you,  messieurs  ?  "  said  the  official  scruti 
nizing  Trajan  closely.  The  young  men  displayed  their  uni 
versity  cards. 

"  But  you,  Monsieur  Gray,  are  a  member  of  the  Treize- 
Treize  Club,  that  meets  at  the  Cafe  Procope  !  " 

"  I  am,"  said  Trajan  tranquilly.  "  What  has  that  to  do 
with  the  affair  ?  " 

Disregarding  the  question,  the  official  continued  : 

"  You  took  part  in  the  demonstration  Victor  Noir,  and 
made  an  incendiary  address  in  the  Rue  du  Temple  last 
month.  Is  it  you  or  Monsieur  Arden  that  broke  the  law  in 
the  Garden  ?  " 

"  Neither  Monsieur  Arden  nor  myself  broke  any  law  in 
the  garden,"  answered  Trajan  simply. 

"One  of  you,  the  gendarme  could  not  distinguish  which, 
bent  down  and  plucked  a  flower.  Was  it  you,  Monsieur 
Gray  ?  "  continued  the  official,  as  though  Trajan  had  not 
spoken. 

Elliot  explained  that  he  had  bent  over  the  heliotrope  with 
the  intention  of  picking  a  bunch,  unconscious  of  the  law,  but 
had  been  diverted.  He  colored  and  stammered  as  he  saw 
Trajan  turn  his  face  away, — then  continued  : 

"  I  saw  my  friend  reaching  through  the  seat  to  get  some 
thing  I  had  left  behind  me — but  he  touched  no  flower  nor 
shrub — in  the  meaning  of  the  law." 

"  Is  this  true  ? "  said  the  commissaire,  turning  to  the  gen 
darme  who  had  spoken  to  the  young  men.  The  man  ex 
plained  that  he  was  standing  at  some  distance  and  had 
remarked  the  figure  stooping  and  putting  out  his  hand,  but 
could  not  see  in  the  twilight  what  followed. 

"  Tres  Men"  said  the  official  nodding  ;  then  pushing  a 
sheet  of  paper  with  some  printed  forms  on  it,  and  filled  up 
in  writing,  toward  Trajan  directed  him  to  sign.  The  young 
man  read  it  to  Arden.  It  was  a  charge  of  violating  pub 
lic  property,  with  the  answers  of  the  alleged  criminals.  The 
young  men  signed  and  the  official  added  : 


BREAD  CAS T  UPON  THE   WATERS.  25 

"  You  are  under  surveillance,  messieurs,  and  until  it  is 
withdrawn  you  must  deposit  a  '  surety  '  of  250  francs  each,  or 
wait  the  determination  of  the  affair  before  the  Correctional 
Police." 

"  But  we  haven't  so  much  money  with  us,"  said  Elliot, 
indignantly. 

"  Persons  who  give  themselves  up  to  creating  revolutions 
rarely  have,"  responded  the  official  dryly. 

Trajan  said  in  English  : 

"  I  will  explain  the  meaning  of  this  outrage  to  you  when 
we  get  out  of  the  scrape.  You  are  only  guilty  of  being  in 
my  company."  Then  in  French  he  asked  :  "  Will  you  take 
our  watches  as  security  ?  " 

"  Certainly  not  ;  this  is  an  imperial  bureau,  not  a  pawn 
shop  !  " 

"  Will  you  take  a  check  on  the  American  bankers  ? "  asked 
Elliot,  regaining  his  wits. 

"  For  the  whole  sum,  or  for  your  part  alone  ? "  asked  the 
official,  with  a  significant  gleam  in  his  dull,  fishy  eye. 

"  For  the  whole  sum,  of  course,"  replied  Elliot  promptly. 

"  No  ;  I  can  not  do  that." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Elliot,  "  I  will  send  for  the  money. 
Can  you  oblige  me  with  a  messenger  and  means  to  write  a 
note  ?" 

When  this  was  written  and  dispatched,  the  young  men 
were  shown  into  another  room  in  the  rear  of  the  semi-judi 
cial  chamber  in  which  this  summary  justice  was  dispensed. 
A  gendarme  stood  obtrusively  in  the  doorway  to  remind 
the  young  men  that  they  were  under  the  eye  of  the  law. 

"  Is  this  a  customary  thing  in  Paris  ?  "  asked  Elliot,  as 
they  seated  themselves. 

"  Yes,  under  the  present  regime.  The  motive  in  this 
business  is  to  intimidate  me.  I  belong  to  one  of  the  stu 
dents'  republican  clubs,  and  the  police  are  constantly  watch 
ing  to  compromise  the  members  in  order  to  justify  expulsion 
from  the  city.  If  they  could  fasten  the  slightest  misde- 


26  TRAJAN. 

meaner  on  me,  I  should  be.  ordered  to  quit  Paris  at  once. 
You,  as  a  student,  are  open  to  the  suspicion  of  sympathizing 
with  the  enemies  of  the  dynasty,  even  if  your  name  does  not 
figure  among  the  rolls  of  the  clubs." 

"  I  have  heard  a  great  deal  about  the  petty  tyrannies  of 
the  Empire,  but  I  never  would  have  believed  this.  I  own  to 
a  strong  admiration  for  Napoleon  and  preference  for  his 
government  above  all  the  makeshifts  that  have  tried  to  rule 
France  since  1815." 

"  If  you  could  make  Dogberry  out  there  believe  that,"  said 
Trajan,  laughing,  "  you  would  be  liberated  in  a  moment." 

"  But  I  am  beginning  to  think  better  of  that  impression, 
now,"  rejoined  Elliot,  humorously. 

"Just  as  every  honest  man  does  when  he  begins  to  see 
into  the  methods  by  which  this  generous  and  splendid  peo 
ple  are  misgoverned.  This,  however,  is  a  dangerous  theme 
for  such  a  place.  In  every  bureau  of  the  police  there  are 
men  who  understand  English  and  other  tongues.  Let  us, 
therefore,  be  prudent." 

Through  the  single  narrow  window  of  the  room  the  detenus 
could  look  out  on  the  open  square  before  the  gardens. 

The  crowds  had  dwindled  to  a  few  aimless  loiterers,  or 
work-folk  hurrying  homeward.  The  delicate  gray  atmos 
phere  that  envelops  Paris  of  an  evening,  like  a  vaporous 
reflex  of  the  discolored  white  of  its  buildings,  was  filled  with 
the  quality  that  makes  the  mirage,  in  transparent  regions  of 
mountain  or  lowlands,  by  the  sea.  Cre*puscule,  the  French 
call  it,  but  not  the  twilight  known  and  loved  in  Saxon  lands. 
A  season  of  expansion  ;  when  the  noise  of  the  great  city 
is  suddenly  hushed  and  you  hear  your  own  voice  clearly  for 
the  first  time  since  early  morning,  with  much  the  sensation 
that  follows  emerging  from  a  plunge  in  the  sea.  Something 
of  a  recognition  of  this  seemed  to  be  in  the  minds  of  the  two 
fatefully-met  young  men,  not  less  than  a  realization  of  the 
strange  relations  in  which  they  came  together.  Constant 
and  obtrusive  as  are  the  contrasts  in  life,  you  would  go  far 


BREAD  CAST  UP  OAT  THE  WATERS.     t  27 

before  meeting  a  more  marked  one  than  the  caprice  of  fate 
had  thus  thrown  together.  All  that  was  in  Elliot  Arden  you 
felt  very  sure  you  could  read  in  his  face.  Frankness,  good 
nature,  impulsiveness  which  might  even  go  to  recklessness.  In 
the  other,  a  reserve  which  could  never  be  reticence — rather 
the  shrinking  of  a  creature  unacquainted  with  his  kind. 

The  two  young  men  stood  at  the  window  gazing  in  silence 
over  the  graceful  minarets  of  the  churches  and  palaces  spec 
tral  and  dim  in  the  transparent  air. 

"  You  have  sent  to  a  friend  for  the  money  ?  "  asked 
Trajan  suddenly.  "  Is  there  any  chance  of  failure  ? " 

"  I  have  sent  to  my  cousin — as  I  didn't  care  to  frighten 
my  mother  and  sister — who  couldn't  understand  the  mat 
ter.  It  may  take  some  time  to  find  him,  but  we  shall 
have  the  better  appetite  for  dinner.  You  will  be  charmed 
with  my  cousin — a  sage,  philosopher  and  friend  worth  know 
ing  and  having.  He  pretends  to  be  a  cynic — but  is  any 
thing  else." 

Trajan,  with  a  sudden  irresistible  burst  of  feeling,  seized 
his  companion's  hand  and  pressing  it  with  both  his  own,  arti 
culated  rapidly :  "  You  are  a  wonderfully  kind  fellow. 
Though,"  he  added  faltering,  "  praise  from  me  might  not  be 
construed  as  in  the  best  form  at  this  moment.  It  is  not 
every  man  that  can  give  a  crust,  and  I  am  afraid  it  is  not 
every  man  that  can  accept  one.  But  your  voice,  and  what 
I  may  call  your  magnanimity,  in  venturing  to  recall  me  to  my 
self,  have  done  a  good  deal  more  than  you  suspect."  Then 
musingly,  as  he  walked  the  floor  and  looked  through  the 
gathering  shadows,  "  The  potent  resolutions  in  life  are  taken 
suddenly.  You — but  never  mind — I  am  afraid  if  I  talk  I 
shall  talk  like  a  fool.  Half  my  life  I  have  been  trying  to 
teach  myself  how  to  be  silent" — then,  with  an  air  of  engag 
ing  levity — "  but  I  have  been  either  a  poor  pupil  or  a  bad 
teacher.  If  the  lawyer  who  pleads  his  own  cause  has  a  fool 
for  a  client,  the  philosopher  who  tries  to  follow  his  own  doc 
trine  has  an  imbecile  for  a  student.  When  I  am  on  the  high 


road  to  my  most  cherished  ends,  my  tongue  gets  the  better  of 
me  and  delivers  me  over  to  my  enemies.  Almost  unconscious 
of  the  things  I  have  said,  or  uttering  them  from  intuition 
rather  than  reflection,  I  have  made  enemies  of  the  bitterest 
sort  by  a  phrase,  the  very  form  of  which  was  forgotten  so 
soon  as  spoken." 

During  this  rather  inconsequent  monologue,  on  what  was 
obviously  only  a  superficial  phase  of  his  nature,  Elliot 
studied  his  companion  furtively.  He  felt  a  sense  of  trium 
phant  joy  in  the  vindication  of  his  act  in  the  garden,  in 
obtruding  himself  between  the  young  man  and  his  dimly  dis 
cerned  purpose,  though  the  strength  of  that  purpose  he  was 
even  now  far  from  realizing.  He  felt  a  comic  embarrass 
ment  as  to  the  manner  in  which  he  should  sustain  his  rfile. 
He  feared  to  allude  to  the  past  and  distrusted  the  ordinary 
commonplaces  of  life,  likely  to  grate  upon  a  mind  &>  recently 
all  ajar.  The  bells  of  St.  Sulpice  were  sounding  eight  o'clock 
when  a  cab  stopped  before  the  door  of  the  building  in  which 
the  friends  were  detained,  a  messenger  handed  Elliot  an  en 
velope,  which  on  opening  was  found  to  contain  the  money 
and  a  few  lines  from  his  cousin  Philip. 


CHAPTER  III. 

IN    THE    CAFE    VOLTAIRE. 

TlfELL,  that's  an  experience  that  I  hadn't  antici- 
VV  pated,"  cried  Elliot,  drawing  a  long  breath  when 
the  money  had  been  counted  and  a  receipt  given.  "  I  don't 
yearn  to  repeat  it,  and  I  shall  take  care  how  I  ever  look  at 
public  property  in  Paris  in  future."  The  commissaire  stood 
in  the  doorway,  evidently  studying  the  two  young  men,  and, 
indeed,  an  eye  less  observant  or  discerning  would  have 
found  the  study  an  interesting  one.  Trajan's  face — a 


IN  THE  CAFE   VOLTAIRE.  29 

volume  not  always  open,  or,  if  open,  not  always  easily 
legible — the  dark  hair  long,  but  not  to  eccentricity,  framed 
the  almost  painful  pallor  of  the  countenance.  Symmetry  of 
limb  and  figure  gave  him,  as  he  walked,  an  unconscious  air 
of  self-assertion  not  altogether  disassociated  from  the  arro 
gance  of  natures  that  have  suffered  much,  and  through 
that  suffering  seem  to  have  broken  into  a  consciousness  of 
power,  which  sometimes  comes  as  strongly  with  failure  as 
with  triumph  in  life — an  appearance,  in  short,  in  person, 
carriage,  expression  and  movement,  which  makes  enemies 
for  some  men  before  they  have  opened  their  lips,  and 
adorers  for  others  even  after  they  have  opened  their  lips. 

By  the  undiscriminating  his  self-control  would  have  been 
called  overweening,  if  first  impressions  were  uttered  by  those 
who  leap  at  conclusions.  A  more  reserved  and  subtle  judg 
ment  would  have  called  him,  however,  self-poised,  highly 
endowed,  but,  perhaps,  over-given  to  reticence  and  morbid 
introspection.  As  we  see  him  in  this  crisis  of  his  life — he 
moves  with  the  unconscious  bearing  of  a  man  who,  hav 
ing  been  under  the  enemy's  fire  for  half  a  day,  forgets  the 
ordeal  mechanically  when  the  foe  is  broken,  not  quite  sure 
whether  death  has  disappeared  or  is  still  confronting  him. 

Elliot,  sympathetically  conscious  of  the  delicacy  of  the 
situation,  strove  to  divert  the  mind  of  his  companion  from 
himself,  and  chattered  away  on  every  commonplace  he  could 
invent. 

Nor  was  Elliot  himself  a  less  striking  figure  than  Trajan 
Gray.  There  was  in  the  rich,  harmonious  accents  of  his 
voice,  a  fascination  that  made  the  most  prosaic  of  his 
thoughtless  sayings  seductive  and  persuasive.  In  figure, 
while  his  companion  was  something  under  the  medium 
stature,  Elliot  was  slightly  above  it.  His  was  the  clear  type 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon — light  hair,  blue  eyes,  roseate,  but  not 
ruddy,  complexion,  and  that  air  of  healthful  enjoyment  of 
everything  which  gave  the  idea  of  a  man  who  had  never 
endured  the  trial  of  a  physical  or  mental  disease. 


30  TRAJAN. 

Passing  the  Luxembourg  gates  into  the  Rue  Vaugirard, 
the  two  young  men  penetrated  under  the  colonnades  of  the 
gray  old  porticoes  of  the  Odeon,  the  second  state  theater  of 
France.  But  its  wonderful  array  of  books,  running  up  in 
stairs  of  learning,  if  not  of  light,  into  the  very  groining  of 
the  arches,  did  not  arrest  them  now  as  at  other  times.  They 
hurried  down  the  network  of  lane-like  streets,  which  still 
show  something  of  the  old  Paris  Trajan  loved,  and  knew, 
inch  by  inch,  to  the  broad,  new  Boulevard  St.  Germain, 
down  the  very  same  Ruede  Seine  which  Trajan  had  traveled 
three  hours  before,  delaying  the  temptation  of  the  water. 

At  the  corner  of  the  Quai  Voltaire,  Elliot  turned  into  a 
famous  restaurant,  sacred  to  the  memory  and  eloquent  of 
the  presence  of  many  generations  of  all  that  was  brilliant, 
learned,  gay,  wise  and  godless  in  art,  letters,  romance,  philos 
ophy,  statecraft  and  song — a  restaurant  where  Voltaire,  with 
his  dear  Due  de  Brabant  and  his  adoring  Marquis  de  Con- 
dorcet,  had  reveled.  The  mark  of  age  was  on  every  thing, 
save  the  cuisine  ;  for,  while  there  is  no  limit  to  the  Parisian 
reverence  for  antiquity  in  forms,  lines,  furniture,  bric-a-brac 
and  what  not,  age  has  no  temptations  for  his  stomach,  unless 
it  be  in  wine. 

As  they  passed  up  the  stairs,  Elliot,  resuming  the  conver 
sation  more  for  the  sake  of  diverting  his  companion 
from  the  late  episode  than  any  thing  else,  said,  with  ani 
mation  : 

"  I  live  in  this  quarter  by  preference  ;  not  that  I 
am  an  archaeologist  and  study  its  monuments  scientifically, 
but  I  love  the  atmosphere  of  the  old  wits.  To  me  it 
is  a  never-ceasing  source  of  generous  thought  to  pass, 
for  example,  down  the  Rue  de  Seine,  the  first  thoroughfare 
from  the  king's  quarter,  yonder,  to  the  splendid  old  palace 
of  the  Luxembourg.  As  for  the  Luxembourg  Gardens,  I 
know  nothing  more  enchanting  than  the  atmosphere  one 
enters  there.  I  am  far  back  in  the  Middle  Ages  as  I  walk 
through  the  alUes  of  the  queens  and  study  the  marble 


IN  THE  CAFE   VOLTAIRE.  31 

figures  of  the  princely  women  who  shared  with  the  Capets, 
Valois  and  Bourbons  the  glories,  crimes  and  grandeur  of  the 
French  monarchy.  I  have  studied  the  marble  faces  of 
Catherine  de  Medici  and  Mary,  her  weak  kinswoman,  and 
Margaret  of  Burgundy  and  Anne  of  Austria,  and  I  have  sat 
for  hours  before  that  sometime  heir-apparent  to  the  throne, 
Marie  Stuart,  the  wife  of  the  young  prince  of  the  House  of 
Valois.  I  have  striven  to  see  if  the  guilty  story  of  their 
lives  left  any  trace  in  the  lineaments  given  them  by  art  ; 
but  they  are  impassive  as  their  own  tombs — there  is  nothing 
to  be  learned  from  them.  The  rigid  lips  of  Catherine  de 
Medici  have  nothing  to  tell  of  St.  Bartholomew,  and  the 
beautiful  mouth  of  Mary  is  forever  silent  on  the  story  of 
Darnley  and  Chastelard." 

Elliot's  tone  fell  into  a  sort  of  dreamy  monologue,  and, 
turning  with  Trajan,  they  passed  through  the  narrow  corri 
dors  where  the  maitre  d1  hotel,  coming  deferentially  forward, 
took  their  hats.  Elliot  was  a  client  well  known  in  the  place, 
and  it  was  to  him  the  maitre  addressed  the  inquiry  whether 
messieurs  would  dine  in  the  salle  a  manger  or  en  cabinet.  Elliot 
nodded  and  the  man  went  away. 

In  a  moment  he  returned  and  informed  Elliot,  that  mes 
sieurs  were  served  in  the  cabinet  number  seven. 

All  Paris  restaurants  seem  to  have  been  built  on  the  same 
model — the  lower  or  street  floor  a  great  salon  adorned  in 
red  plush  ;  endless  mirrors,  small  square  tables  with  snowy 
linen,  glistening  crystal  and  princely  silverware  ;  gar$ons, 
white-aproned  and  tidy,  and  an  air  of  cleanliness  pervading 
everything  which  would  invite  an  appetite  if  a  man  had 
none  ;  the  street  wall  cut  up  into  wide  compartments  of 
glass,  and  the  interior  screened  from  outside  observation  by 
delicate  gauzy  curtains  forming  no  barrier  to  the  passing 
scenes  without  :  above,  small  rooms  with  cabinets  ranged  in 
size  from  a  capacity  of  four  up  to  that  of  twenty. 

Elliot  and  his  guest  were  shown  into  a  cabinet  a  quatre. 
Here  a  small  square  table  was  set  with  charming  detail. 


32  TRAJAN. 

Flowers  adorned  it,  and  the  silver  might  have  been  taken 
from  the  private  pantry  of  a  reigning  prince. 

Elliot,  in  his  part  of  host,  seated  his  guest  in  the  most 
desirable  place,  and  when  the  soup  was  served  continued 
the  conversation  as  though  it  had  not  been  interrupted. 

"  I  have  been  attending  the  lectures,  but  remain  now  in 
the  university,  more  to  compare  the  latest  advances  of 
French  jurisprudence  with  Harvard  teachings  than  to  qualify 
myself — I  am  giving  time  to  the  belles  lettres  lectures  and 
find  them  profitable.  I  own,  however,  that  half  the  charm 
and  half  the  motive  of  my  presence  in  Paris  are  the  extra 
ordinary  people  I  meet.  I  have  made  some  extremely 
interesting  acquaintances — men  of  all  countries,  all  types  of 
and  I  may  say  of  all  grades  of  cultivation  as  well  as  of  every 
rank  of  genius — for  genius  has  ranks  as  every  thing  else  has, 
nor  can  a  man  without  a  certain  sort  of  genius  suffer  the 
attrition  of  such  society  as  this  of  the  Paris  schools  without 
sinking  into  obscurity." 

At  this  moment  the  discreet  waiter  appeared  at  the  door 
and  handed  Elliot  a  card.  The  young  man  looked  at  it  for 
a  moment  with  some  impatience,  then  hastily  wrote  upon  it 
and  handed  it  to  the  waiter  ;  but  suddenly  bethinking  him 
self,  exclaimed  : 

"  Stay  !  "  Then,  in  English,  to  Trajan  he  said  :  "  My 
cousin  and  a  friend  with  whom  I  have  an  engagement  this 
evening  are  outside.  Would  you  mind  if  they  joined  us  at 
dinner  ?  " 

Trajan,  who  had  been  listening  attentively  to  Elliot, 
seemed  not  to  catch  exactly  the  intent  of  the  young  man's 
question  and  bowed  absently. 

Elliot  hesitated  a  moment  and  then  added  :  "  I  should 
be  glad  to  have  you  meet  them,  for  they  are  well  acquainted 
in  Paris,  and  besides  being  agreeable  fellows,  I  have  no 
doubt  they  will  be  of  service  to  you." 

Trajan  flushed  and  looked  at  his  friend  with  a  shade  of 
embarrassment. 


IN  THE  CAFE   VOLTAIRE.  33 

Elliot,  conscious  of  the  mistake  he  had  made,  continued  : 

"  I  mean  they  are  the  most  entertaining  men  and  will,  as 
the  French  say,  egaye  if  you  should  happen  to  feel  blue  and 
know  of  no  better  company."  Then  he  added  to  the 
waiter :  "  Show  the  gentlemen  in,  or,  stay,  I  will  go  myself 
— excuse  me  a  moment." 

The  young  man  went  out  of  the  room  and  returned  a 
moment  later. 

"  Mr.  Gray,  my  cousin — Mr.  Kent,  Mr.  Carnot." 

To  the  great  surprise  of  Elliot  the  second  personage 
exclaimed  : 

"  Why,  Gray,  is  that  you  ?  Where  have  you  disappeared 
to  of  late  ?  My  sister  only  yesterday  sent  you  a  commis 
sion.  One  of  your  rich  Americans  wants  a  sketch  of  the 
Hotel  Cluny  and  some  models  from  the  collection,  and 
Theo  thought  you  would  be  glad  to  do  it  if  you  had  nothing 
else  on  your  easel." 

Trajan  said,  with  some  constraint  :  "  I  have  been  out  to 
Barbison,  sketching  for  the  last  fortnight,  and  only  returned 
to  Paris  yesterday." 

"  So  you  are  already  acquainted,"  said  Elliot  cheerfully. 
"  It  is  a  happy  coincidence,  as  I  want  Mr.  Gray  to  know 
me,  and  I  count  on  you  to  make  him  know  how  much  wiser 
I  am  than  I  can  make  visible  myself,"  and  he  laughed  gayly 
at  his  own  expense. 

Seats  were  placed  and  plates  for  the  two  guests,  and 
Trajan  took  the  opportunity  of  studying  the  kinsman  of  his 
new  friend,  while  the  latter  fell  into  conversation  together. 

"  Your  mother  expected  you  to  dinner  yesterday,  and  was 
quite  sure  you  would  be  home  to-day.  We  have  just  left 
there  and  fancied  that  as  you  were  not  at  home  we  should 
be  certain  to  find  you  here." 

"  I  had  intended  to  go  to  dinner  yesterday,"  said  Elliot, 
"  but  I  found  myself  late  in  the  afternoon  in   the  Bois    de 
Boulogne,  and   took   dinner   in   the  park  with  some  of  the 
law  fellows." 
3 


34  TRAJAN. 

CHAPTER   IV. 

STATE       SECRETS. 

NOT  the  least  endearing  of  the  many  souvenirs  left  his 
beloved  Paris  by  the  recluse  of  Fernay,  the  French 
man  of  sensibility  holds  the  Maison  Voltaire,  in  which  our 
four  friends  are  installed.  Eating  is  but  an  incident  of  a 
well-served  dinner  in  any  country — given,  of  course,  the 
right  sort  of  company — and  the  very  atmosphere  seems  to 
transform  the  diners  who  sit  down  at  the  exquisite  board  of 
the  Maison  Voltaire.  This  effect  was  palpable  in  the  group 
of  friends,  as  the  admirably  disciplined  domestics  brought 
on  the  courses  and  the  meal  proceeded  to  the  dessert. 
While  the  passing  topics  of  the  day  formed  the  staple  of  dis 
cussion  two  of  the  young  men  studied  Trajan  furtively,  under 
cover  of  the  generous  Chambertin  of  a  cm  for  which  the 
Maison  was  famous  among  all  the  rivals  of  the  left  bank.  A 
transformation,  which  was  not  so  much  a  change  as  a  resto 
ration,  came  upon  Trajan.  The  absence  of  interest,  the 
depression  easily  mistaken  for  moroseness  vanished.  His 
voice  resumed  a  mellow  quality  natural  to  it  ;  his  pale  face 
became  roseate  ;  his  eye  lost  the  mocking  glitter  of  an  hour 
before  ;  the  whole  effect  was  to  lessen  his  years  and  leave 
him  a  creature  of  almost  buoyant  boyishness,  as  compared 
with  the  half-dazed  outcast  Elliot  had  seen  him  in  the 
Garden. 

This  was  due  obviously  to  the  sudden  and  subtile  bond 
the  strange  meeting  had  established  betwixt  him  and  Elliot, 
though  the  persuasive  humanities  of  the  well-ordered  table 
were  not  without  their  agency  in  the  transformation.  It 
would  be  an  obdurate  grief  that  could  resist  the  convivial 
amenities  of  dinner,  as  it  is  set  out  among  the  race  who 
have  carried  cooking  not  only  to  a  fine  art,  but  to  the  dem 
onstration  of  means  to  intellectual  ends.  It  is  the  dinner 


5  TA  TE  SE  CRE  TS.  3  5 

that  feeds  the  brain  as  well  as  the  stomach,  which  the  Paris 
ian  piques  himself  on  presenting.  There  is  no  clogging  ; 
no  overfeeding  ;  no  uproarious  drinking  ;  all  that  is  earthy 
in  the  viands  has  been  smothered  in  odors  that  suggest 
Cathay  rather  than  the  kitchen.  This  well-ordered,  noise 
less  service  is  a  ministry  of  mind  rather  than  of  matter. 
Pots  and  pans  and  red-faced  cooks  have  no  association  with 
the  dainty  details.  The  stately  domesticity  of  the  English 
banquet  is  wanting,  but  the  profuse  trifles  that  seem  part  of 
the  feast  amply  make  up  the  lack. 

There  is  an  appetizing  humor  in  the  very  discretion  with 
which  the  gar$on  surveys  his  well-ordered  plats  j  a  sugges 
tion  of  orotund  ampleness  in  the  unctuous  queries  addressed 
the  head  of  the  table,  that  would  inspire  a  company  of 
anchorites  to  well-bred  gluttony. 

Next  to  having  dined  well,  there  is  no  man  but  loves  the 
moment  when  he  sits  down  at  the  table  expecting  to  dine 
well.  Any  man  who  knew  the  Cafe  Voltaire  knew  that  he 
was  going  to  dine  not  only  on  the  fat  of  the  land,  but  on  the 
best  morsels  of  that  fat,  at  any  of  the  three-score  tables 
hidden  in  their  box-like  cabinets.  Suggestive  things  could 
be  seen  in  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  glorious  old  place — 
from  the  remarkable  personage  with  pink  ribbons  and  fluffy 
lace  who  sat  at  the  comptoir,  as  one  passed  up  the  grand 
escalier,  to  the  unobtrusive  gar9on-in-chief,  whose  pride  it 
was  to  know  every  client  entering  the  savory  penetralia — a 
savant  who  grades  the  guests  by  the  quality  of  the  wine  they 
drink.  The  privacy  of  a  duke  or  a  Vanderbilt  could  not 
exceed  the  impressive  seclusion  of  the  favored  clientele,  for 
whose  coming  certain  cabinets  always  seemed  in  waiting. 

When  seated  therein,  the  solemn  state  of  a  prince  could  not 
be  more  perfect  in  the  ancestral  hall.  Candelabra  light  the 
compact  rooms  ;  while  engravings  decorate  the  panels  ;  the 
center  of  the  shining  marquetry  floor  is  covered  with  a  rug 
adjusted  to  the  size  of  the  table ;  a  square  window 
draped  with  thick  stuff  curtains,  gives  air,  not  light,  to  the 


36  TRAJAN. 

scene.  The  chairs,  high-backed  and  carved,  suggest  the 
spoil  of  luckless  grands  seigneurs,  victims  of  the  teachings 
of  the  patron  saint,  M.  Arouet  de  Voltaire.  Repose 
and  luxury  are  the  surroundings,  and  the  feast  insen 
sibly  takes  the  same  tone.  The  face  of  the  gar$on,  as  he 
surveys  the  altar  of  his  ministrations,  is  to  the  observant 
an  animated  mirror,  reflecting  with  whimsical  accuracy  the 
kind  and  condition  of  people  he  is  serving.  Nothing  could 
be  more  descriptively  delicate  than  his  attention  to  Elliot 
and  his  guests.  Yet  the  observer,  quick  through  long  experi 
ence  in  noting  the  subtile  gradations  of  the  garfon's  manner, 
from  obsequiousness  to  toleration,  could  read  in  every 
gesture  of  the  waiter  the  relative  importance  of  each  person 
in  the  company.  No  man  whose  fortune  it  has  been  to 
study  the  evolutions  of  a  Paris  waiter  of  the  higher  school, 
but  is  struck  by  the  unobtrusive  positivism  that  marks  that 
most  perfect  of  all  social  weathercocks,  the  gar f on.  The 
race  is  common  enough,  but  its  consummate  expression  can 
only  be  found  in  the  rarified  strata  of  Paris  society.  There 
is  an  inexpressible  unction,  a  seductive  invitation  to  eat, 
drink  and  be  merry  in  his  very  tenu,  which  the  race,  at  its 
best,  elsewhere  lacks.  He  serves  the  table  with  pride  and 
pleasure,  and  his  pride  increases,  not  so  much  with  the 
social  status  of  his  guests,  as  their  decorous  appreciation  of 
the  feast. 

This  pleasure  is  augmented  in  degree,  as  the  wines  are 
fine  and  the  food  well  chosen.  The  waiter  in  London, 
Vienna,  New  York,  or  any  metropolitan  accretion  of  human 
particles,  may  subdue  you  by  the  austerity  of  his  office,  and 
bully  you  by  the  innumerable  artifices  of  a  vulgar  menial 
nature,  but  the  Parisian  prototype  is  wiser  in  his  day,  and 
neither  begs,  bullies  nor  berates.  The  largesse  you  leave 
him  is  rather  the  souvenir  of  an  equal  to  an  equal  than  the 
gratuity  carelessly  tossed  to  a  menial.  The  Paris  "  man  and 
brother"  brings  about  his  conquest  by  the  negation  of  all 
that  you  associate  in  your  mind  with  his  kind.  What  tactful 


STATE  SECRETS.  37 

deference  to  the  host  !  What  engaging  and  generous  zeal 
that  you  shall  have  the  best  in  the  "  patron's  "  cellar  !  How 
seductively  you  are  made  to  feel  that  the  "  patron  "  himself 
is  a  common  enemy  to  combat  ;  the  waiter  an  ally  whom  you 
have  invoked  !  the  demure,  respectful,  devoted  being  who 
adjusts  with  trained  hands  and  artistic  sense  the  table  and 
its  appetizing  viands,  whose  devotions  for  the  moment  are 
not  alone  the  honor  and  repletion  of  your  friends,  but 
solicitude  that  your  table  shall  make  a.  fine  effect,  and  that 
your  dinner  shall  receive  not  only  the  justice  of  eating,  but 
the  encomiums  of  those  honored  by  the  attentions  of  a 
friend  so  superior  and  so  kind  !  How  insensibly  it  stimulates 
a  man's  best  opinion  of  himself  to  have  such  a  potentate  in 
attendance,  set  out  in  the  costume  prescribed  by  his  order,  not 
as  a  mark  of  condition,  but  as  a  regalia  of  place,  like  the 
surplice  at  the  altar,  or  the  livery  of  the  state  ! 

These  thoughts  passed  through  the  active  mind  of  Trajan, 
as  the  kindly  stimulant  of  the  Burgundy  warmed  him.  He 
studied  Elliot  with  discreet  attention.  He  thought  he  had 
never  seen  a  face  of  such  inexpressible  and  winning  cordi 
ality,  and  he  longed  to  translate  it  to  his  own  canvas  yonder 
in  his  garret  in  the  Rue  Dragon.  His  heart  and  brain  were 
working  together  now.  An  overmastering  and  woman-like 
love  filled  him  as  he  thought  of  the  action  that  had  brought 
him,  in  his  most  desperate  despair,  near  this  manly  fellow. 
He  could  scarcely  realize  that  this  careless,  kindly,  gay 
young  sybarite — the  soul  of  the  feast — was  the  man  who  had 
come  between  himself  and  the  hideous  fulfillment  of  the 
morbid  purpose  he  had  long  dreaded  and  finally  resolved. 

Nor  was  Elliot's  kinsman,  Philip  Kent,  a  less  interesting 
or  attractive  study.  He,  too,  was  a  Saxon  type,  with  a  dis 
tant  resemblance  to  his  cousin.  His  form  was,  however, 
brawnier.  He  was  fully  six  feet  in  stature ;  his  face  was 
bearded  in  the  fashion  then  coming  into  vogue  and  known 
as  a  la  Prusse.  Regularly  cropped  beard,  and  mustaches 
light  and  tawny  like  his  hair  ;  a  mouth  of  regular  proper- 


38  TRAJAN. 

tions,  but  at  intervals  suggesting  a  want  of  firmness  ;  an 
aquiline  nose,  perhaps  a  trifle  large  for  classic  beauty,  but 
an  indication  of  force  and  virility  :  an  open  and  sincere  eye, 
merry  and  frank  ;  a  voice  of  deep,  melodious  quality,  and  a 
manner  inspiring  confidence. 

The  second  of  the  two  comers  would  have  been  judged  a 
handsome  man  in  any  company  :  he  would,  indeed,  have 
been  attentively  considered  among  the  most  prominent  of 
social  forces.  A  long,  high  head  of  the  Caesarian  order,  well 
developed  and  covered  by  fringes  of  curling  dark  hair  fall 
ing  in  disorder  over  a  square  forehead,  gave  him  an  unde 
monstrative  air  of  thought  which  poets  and  painters  admire; 
the  eye,  a  dark  brownish  gray,  seemed  alive  with  sympathy 
and  interest  ;  the  olive  tint,  almost  blonde  in  its  delicacy, 
gave  him  an  aristocratic  cast,  which  left  the  man  something 
of  an  enigma  were  a  stranger  suddenly  called  on  to  define 
his  place.  Jules  Carnot  was  the  type  of  a  Frenchman 
endowed  with  superior  education,  who,  through  the  varied 
social  attrition  of  life  under  the  Empire,  had  been  worn  into 
perfect  form — a  man  who,  in  the  most  marked  company, 
was  welcomed  by  every  body  as  an  agreeable,  well-informed, 
well-bred,  good-humored  companion,  of  whom  not  much 
was  known,  save  that  he  was  a  decided  acquisition  to  the 
salon,  the  club,  the  picnic,  or  what  not,  and  the  innumerable 
gayeties  that  made  up  the  life  of  the  more  favored  classes 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of  Napoleon  III. 

"You  are  the  eye  and  the  ear  of  the  company,"  said 
Elliot,  addressing  himself  to  Carnot.  "What  are  all  your 
friends,  the  princes,  dukes  and  duchesses  doing  with  them 
selves  ?  Is  it  true  that  the  Ollivier  ministry  is  to  be  thrown 
out  by  the  Emperor?  Is  it  true  that  the  Vice-Emperor 
Rouher  is  to  return  to  power,  and  that  the  court  is  going  to 
indulge  in  a  comedy  of  warlike  errors,  as  Rochefort  is  never 
tired  of  prophesying  ?  " 

"Ah!  ma  foi"  responded  the  Frenchman,  with  just  a 
tinge  of  constraint,  more  in  his  manner  than  his  words. 


STATE  SECRETS.  39 

"  Who  can  tell  ?  The  Emperor  has  a  curious  habit  of  brood 
ing  over  affairs,  giving  every  body  the  idea  that  he  is  slowly 
coming  to  a  resolution,  then  suddenly  turning  around  and 
carrying  out  an  entirely  unexpected  programme.  The  Bis 
marck  business  has  saddened  his  life,  and  the  Due  de  Persigny 
makes  no  concealment  of  the  fact  that  the  empire,  or  the 
dynasty  rather,  rests  on  the  hazard  of  the  die,  and  that  die 
is  war." 

"  By  the  way,  Carnot,  what  was  that  story  I  heard  of  your 
telling  about  Bismarck  overreaching  the  Emperor  in  the 
Luxembourg  affair  ?"  asked  Kent. 

"  Where  was  it  you  heard  that  ? "  said  Carnot  in  surprise. 
"  That  is  a  state  secret,  or  rather,  it  is  a  perilous  piece  of 
gossip  to  have  associated  with  a  man  who  stands  well  in 
imperial  society  ;  "  and  he  colored  as  he  found  the  eyes  of 
Trajan  fixed  on  him  questioningly.  "  The  story  is  simple, 
and  I  beg  that  it  may  not  be  repeated  on  my  authority.  The 
Emperor  had  been  playing  fast  and  loose  with  Bismarck  at 
Biarritz,  and  between  them  they  had  hatched  up  a  very 
nice  scheme  for  the  division  of  spoil  that  was  to  follow  the 
defeat  of  Austria.  When  the  Prussians  declared  war  upon 
Francis  Joseph,Trince  Metternich  the  Austrian  ambassa 
dor,  came  to  Persigny,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  and 
begged  an  interview  with  the  Emperor.  Napoleon  evaded 
him  on  one  pretext  or  another,  until  Metternich,  losing 
patience,  laid  before  Persigny  the  orders  of  his  master, 
Francis  Joseph,  categorically  promising  to  Napoleon  his  own 
will  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine  on  the  sole  condition 
that  a  French  army  corps  of  a  hundred  thousand  men 
should  march  at  once  on  Strasbourg,  threatening  Mayence 
and  Cologne.  It  was  the  physician  of  the  Due  de  Persigny 
that  made  this  known.  The  doctor  was  sitting  in  the  Duke's 
private  cabinet  waiting  for  him,  the  very  day  that  the  Prus 
sians  defeated  the  forces  of  Hanover,  when  Persigny  came 
rushing  into  the  apartment  tearing  his  hair  and  muttering 
like  an  insane  man.  Not  noticing  the  doctor  for  a 


40  TRAJAN. 

moment  he  struck  the  desk,  exclaiming :  '  And  to  call 
that  man  a  French  Prince  !  No  wonder  his  paternity  is 
doubted.' 

"  The  doctor  coughed  to  make  his  presence  known.  The 
Duke,  instead  of  ceasing,  continued  addressing  his  remarks 
to  the  physician.  *  Could  you  believe  such  a  thing  ?  I  have 
offered  him  on  the  part  of  the  Emperor  of  Austria  our 
ancient  frontier  to  the  bank  of  the  Rhine,  the  outlines  of 
royal  and  imperial  France,  the  dream  of  Henry  IV.,  the 
great  Richelieu  and  of  Napoleon  I. — the  aspiration  of  every 
Frenchman  from  the  Pyrenees  to  the  Channel,  and  what  do 
you  think  this  man,  this  Napoleon,  this  ruler  of  France, 
says  in  return  ?  *'  It  is  too  late."  Too  late  ! '  he  broke  off  in 
a  perfect  frenzy  of  wrath — *  too  late  to  get  without  a  blow 
what  we  have  wasted  millions  of  treasure  and  thousands  of 
lives  to  obtain  !  Too  late  to  carry  out  the  simple  and 
consecutive  policy  of  every  French  sovereign  from  Charle 
magne  to  Louis  Philippe  ! '  ' 

"A  very  interesting  bit  of  political  tattle,"  said  Elliot,  in 
awe.  "  What  was  the  pretext  ? " 

"  The  pretext,"  said  Carnot,  "  was  that  Napoleon  had 
promised  Bismarck  to  hold  his  hands  off,  in  return  for 
which,  Prussia  would  close  her  eyes  to  a  French  aggres 
sion  on  Luxembourg,  and,  if  things  promised  well — Bel 
gium." 

"  What,"  said  Philip,  "  the  paltry  duchy  of  Luxembourg 
in  exchange  for  the  Rhine  from  Basle  to  Coblentz  !  Oh, 
that's  absurd  !  Imperial  promises  would  break  before  such 
an  alternative  as  that.  You  may  say  what  you  please  about 
the  infirmity  of  purpose  of  Napoleon  III.,  but  he  would 
never  allow  a  mere  understanding  with  that  ill-bred  fellow, 
Bismarck,  to  stand  in  the  way  of  such  a  magnificent  pros 
pect  as  that." 

"  It  seems,  however,  that  he  did,"  concluded  Carnot,  look 
ing  at  Trajan  with  suggestion  as  he  spoke.  The  latter 
merely  interjected  : 


STATE  SECRETS.  41 

"  You  may  be  sure  if  there  were  any  thing  mean  or 
unmanly  the  man  of  December  would  be  equal  to  it." 

"  However,"  continued  Elliot,  "  that  is  going  away  from 
the  point  that  I  was  interested  in.  The  air  is  filled  with 
rumors  of  war  ;  the  Bourse  is  agitated  and  uneasy,  and  the 
students  in  the  Quartier  are  even  talking  about  forming  a 
regiment,  and  I  am  asked  to  join." 

"  I  do  not  know  any  pretext  that  war  could  be  declared 
upon  now,"  said  Carnot,  "  unless  it  is  the  candidacy  of  the 
Hohenzollern  prince  for  the  throne  of  Spain,  which,  of 
course,  contravenes  one  of  the  fundamental  principles  of 
French  policy.  Even  an  outsider  can  see  that  France 
would  stand  in  a  rather  perilous  position  with  the  Prussian 
monarchy  at  one  door  and  a  Prussian  dynasty  at  the  other. 
I  heard  young  Gambetta,  over  in  the  Cafe  Procope,  say  the 
other  evening,  that  the  empire  would  walk  into  the  trap  and 
go  to  war,  now  when  the  Prussians  are  ready,  and  that  if  it 
did  the  republic  would  be  in  existence  within  a  year,  for 
France,  he  declares,  is  ridiculously  ill-armed  and  ill-provided 
— more  so  than  Austria  was  in  1866." 

"  But  where  are  all  those  wonderful  chassepots  that  the 
gossips  have  been  amusing  us  with  for  a  year  or  more  ?  " 
asked  Philip — "  to  say  nothing  of  that  sum  of  all  murderous 
inventions,  the  mitrailleuse." 

Elliot  rejoined  :  "  They  are  all — Gambetta  declares — on 
paper.  The  Imperial  Army  has  been  growing  rich  and  lazy 
and  enervated  since  the  Crimean  war,  for  the  Mexican  expe 
dition  was  merely  a  grand  foray  for  loot." 

"  I  do  not  agree  with  your  young  radical,"  said  Philip. 
"  France  is  the  first  military  power  in  Europe,  and  Prussia 
would  find  a  very  different  adversary  from  the  one  she  met 
in  Austria.  The  conquest,  of  Von  Benedek's  army  was  due 
to  the  needle-gun  and  the  incorrigible  martinetism  and  red- 
tapism  of  the  Austrian  war  office." 

"Gambetta,"  continued  Elliot,  "holds  that  France  is 
rotten  in  every  sense.  National  patriotism  is  obliterated  ; 


42  TRAJAN. 

the  army  is  held  together  merely  for  the  support  of  the 
dynasty,  and  in  no  sense  reflects  the  ancient  aspirations  and 
fervor  that  brought  about  the  conquests  of  1793.  One  cam 
paign,  according  to  Gambetta,  would  dissolve  the  French 
organization  like  smoke." 

"  A  patriotic  person,  this  Gambetta,"  interjected  Philip, 
contemptuously,  "  who,  thinking  that  of  his  country,  is  will 
ing  to  see  it  brought  to  peril  and,  perhaps,  destruction  ;  for 
if  ever  the  Prussians  get  this  side  of  the  Rhine  as  victors, 
they  will  come  with  the  memory  of  two  hundred  years  of 
repression  of  the  affronts  put  upon  them  during  the  present 
dynasty,  and  with  a  smarting  sense  of  the  high  hand  with 
which  they  have  been  checked  in  their  aspirations  for  unity. 
Instead  of  one  Blucher,  there  will  be  a  million,  each  hun 
gering  for  the  spoil  of  the  richest  country  in  Europe,  and 
resolute  in  the  destruction  of  every  monument  commemo 
rating  the  vassalage  of  the  Fatherland.  I  am  free  to  say,  I 
do  not  understand  patriotism  in  a  Gambetta  sense.  If  it  is 
Republican  to  wish  one's  country  harm,  then  I  am  an  Impe 
rialist." 

"  You  don't  understand  Gambetta,"  interrupted  Trajan,  in 
a  thick,  unsteady  voice,  struggling  to  keep  the  tones  from 
trembling.  "  He  loves  France  passionately,  but  he  hates 
the  despotism  that  is  settled  upon  her.  He  thinks  that  the 
destruction  of  that  despotism  would  be  cheaply  bought  by 
the  temporary  defeat  of  the  dynasty's  armies,  for  the  armies 
do  not  represent  the  people,  nor  sympathize  with  them. 
This  Bonaparte  is  hateful  to  every  man  who  values  free  gov 
ernment — and  by  free  government  I  mean  such  an  institu 
tion  as  exists  in  England  or  America.  He  did  a  cowardly 
— a  dastardly  thing — he  stole  a  nation's  virtue,  or,  as  Pre- 
vost  Paradol  said  the  other  day,  '  France  is  like  a  great  lady 
who  has  descended  to  live  with  her  footman,  for  eighteen 
years,  blinded  to  her  own  degradation  and  flaunting  in  her 
enforced  unchastity.'  To  purge  herself  of  this  sin  France 
must  undergo  penitence.  That  penitence  will  come  when 


STATE  SECRETS.  43 

she  is  made  to  suffer  through  the  instrumentality  of  this 
adventurer,  who,  having  first  degraded  her  by  violence, 
holds  her  in  that  degradation  by  stupefying  her — drugging 
her  with  the  accursed  spirit  of  riches,  and  blinding  her  by 
the  ignis-fatuus  of  glory.  France  has  been  in  a  delirium 
for  twenty  years.  She  can  recover  her  reason  only  by  the 
calamity  of  war.  If  that  war  ends  in  defeat,  that  will  restore 
the  sentiment  of  manhood,  now  dormant,  that  will  rekindle 
the  aspirations  of  the  rights  of  man,  which  in  America  have 
made  a  great  people,  and  in  England  a  powerful  and  well- 
ordered  one." 

Trajan  paused  for  a  moment.  The  others  looked  at  him 
in  wonder.  He  continued  : 

"  The  salvation  and  protection  of  society  was  the  plea 
upon  which  Bonaparte  seized  France  eighteen  years  ago. 
Society  is  its  own  saviour  and  its  own  protector.  Nothing 
can  justify  fraud  or  violence  in  dealing  with  society.  If  the 
sentiment  of  virtue,  of  self-respect  had  not  been  stifled  in 
the  French  people,  they  would  never  have  endured  such  an 
orgie  as  this  malefactor  has  continued  for  eighteen  years.  In 
the  first  place  he  robbed  them  of  their  inalienable  rights  to 
choose  their  own  form  of  government,  and  then  corrupted 
them  into  quiescence." 

"  But  every  thing  was  legalized,"  interrupted  Elliot.  "  The 
Emperor  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people,  and  he  got  an 
enormous  majority." 

"  Yes,  he  got  a  majority,"  responded  Trajan,  "  the  basest 
of  the  Roman  consuls  got  majorities  when  they  had  seized 
the  purple,  and,  with  such  appliances  as  Bonaparte  had,  it 
would  have  been  wonderful,  indeed,  if  he  could  not  have 
snatched  an  apparent  approval  from  the  weak  and  frivolous 
and  thoughtless  mass,  intent  rather  on  riches  and  pleasure 
than  the  continuity  of  their  progressive  traditions.  With 
the  machinery  of  the  ballot  in  his  possession,  it  was  no  diffi 
cult  matter  for  the  schemer  who  conducted  his  campaign  to 
get  a  majority  out  of  forty  millions  of  Frenchmen  ;  even 


44  TRAJAN. 

then  he  got  eight  millions  only  to  say  '  yes,'  and,  perhaps,  a 
million  ventured  to  say  'no  '  knowing  what  that  *  no '  implies 
for  them  in  the  way  of  proscription,  obloquy  and  ostracism. 
Why  am  I  so  vehement  in  the  cause  of  a  stranger  people  ? 
Because  I  hold  that  the  natural  divisions  of  mankind  should 
not  be  in  the  arbitrary  lines  of  nations.  I  believe  we  should 
be  a  universal  republic,  with  no  jealousies  or  distrust  ;  that 
such  groups  of  people  as  are  now  called  nations  should 
make  their  own  local  laws,  and  that  the  ocean  bounds  of  the 
globe  should  contain  but  one  general  system  of  government. 
Then  we  should  have  no  wars,  no  clashing  interests  of  labor 
and  riches  ;  we  should,  in  fact,  realize  something  of  the 
state  that  the  early  Christians  foresaw  and  struggled  for." 

"  Universal  socialism,  in  fact,  is  the  ideal  you  aim  at,"  said 
Philip,  with  a  tolerant  smile. 

"Yes,  if  you  wish  to  so  call  it,"  responded  Trajan.  "  Uni 
versal  socialism.  Since  the  unity  of  the  race  is  the  mass, 
and  since  society  is  merely  a  collection  of  individuals,  the 
effect  of  one  man's  voice  upon  his  neighbor  should  carry 
the  weight  of  its  worth.  His  theories  should  count  just  as 
far  as  they  approve  themselves  to  the  conscience  and  judg 
ment  of  an  untrammeled  majority.  The  deliberate  voice 
of  that  majority  should  be  the  rule  of  social  existence — as 
it  was  when  Moses  and  Joshua  led  their  hosts  of  socialists 
living  in  the  simple  communistic  principles  and  practices  of 
the  patriarchs.  The  beginning  and  germ  of  the  doctrines 
of  socialism  are  found  in  the  teachings  of  the  Nazarene. 
The  essence  of  it  is — '  Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,'  or  if 
you  prefer,  '  Do  unto  others  as  you  would  that  others 
should  do  unto  you.'  These  two  sayings  are  to  my  mind 
the  law  and  gospel  of  the  much  despised  and  perverted 
socialism  which  tyrants  conjure  in  hideous  forms  to  frighten 
the  timid  and  restrain  the  liberal. 

"  You  must  remember, "  continued  Trajan  earnestly, 
fixing  his  eyes  upon  Elliot,  "  that  it  was  part  of  God's  plan 
of  punishment  to  put  a  king  over  Israel,  and  certainly  you 


STATE  SECRETS.  45 

have  read  the  history  of  nations  in  vain,  if  you  have  not 
discovered  that  the  kingly  office  has  been  a  curse  to  humanity. 
Why,  above  all,  should  Americans  uphold,  even  by  silence, 
such  a  monstrosity  as  this  emphasized  and  aggravated  trav 
esty  of  the  worst  estate  of  the  Caesars  ? " 

Philip  said  dryly  :  "  What  is  it  Emerson  says  about— the 
inconvenience  to  the  good  order  of  the  world,  when  a  thinker 
is  let  loose  ?  Reserve  your  passionate  humanities  for  your 
poems  or  your  canvas,  Gray." 

"  Even  Disraeli  advocated  regicide  in  his  early  works,  and 
Milton  was  the  tongue  and  brain  of  Cromwell,"  interrupted 
Elliot. 

Trajan  joined  the  laugh  that  followed,  responding  :  "  Oh, 
I'm  far  from  desiring  the  death  of  kings.  It  is  not  the  king 
who  is  to  blame,  as  a  general  rule,  it  is  the  people  who  sub 
mit  to  their  punishment.  I  wouldn't  have  a  limb  of  this 
Bonaparte  harmed.  I  would  merely  set  him  to  work  to 
earn  his  living,  and  if  he  found  himself  unequal  to  that, 
he  could  find  a  resource  always  open  to  a  man  of  reso 
lution — for  death  has  terrors  only  for  those  who  create 
them." 

He  stammered  as  he  said  this,  catching  Elliot's  eye  fixed 
upon  him.  But  Elliot's  glance  spoke  no  reproach.  He  was 
deeply  fascinated  with  the  singular  nature  developing  before 
him,  and  he  studied  every  expression  that  would  aid  him  in 
comprehending  the  young  man.  He  was  not  without  a 
humorous  realization  that  the  union  was  something  like  that 
of  a  horse  and  an  eagle — that  each  depended  on  a  different 
element  both  for  movement  and  faculties. 

Young  as  he  was,  Elliot  had  already  discovered  that  no 
vineyard  has  a  special  ray  from  the  sun  that  ripens.  Genius 
must  bring  forth  its  best  in  an  atmosphere  common  to  all 
endeavor,  as  the  fragrant  and  ornamental  in  nature  grow  in 
the  same  conditions  as  the  useful  and  nutritious. 

"  I  protest,  gentlemen,  against  affairs  of  state,"  said  Car- 
not,  gayly.  "  The  discussion  of  politics  is  the  business  of 


46  TRAJAN. 

lawyers  and  rich  men  seeking  the  great  prizes  in  life.  Mr. 
Arden,  have  you  seen  Nilsson's  Mignon?" 

"  Which  reminds  me,"  said  Elliot  suddenly,  "  that  I  have  a 
box  for  '  Trovatore  '  to-night  at  the  Italietis.  Shall  we  go  ?  " 

"  By  all  means,"  said  Philip.  "  I  vote  for  the  opera. 
And  you,"  said  he,  turning  to  Carnot — "  your  evening  is  free, 
I  know,  and  you  will  join  us." 

"  Willingly,"  Carnot  responded. 

Trajan  looked  at  Elliot  and  said  :  "  It  will  be  impossible 
for  me  to  go  with  you.  I  have  work  that  I  ought  to  do 
while  I'm  in  the  humor,  and  I  am  in  the  humor  now,"  he 
added,  in  an  undertone. 

"  We  should  like  to  have  you  go  with  us,  very  much,"  said 
Elliot,  "  and  you  know  we  are  not  going  to  dress  for  the 
I  fallens" 

But  Trajan  remained  firm,  and  when  the  party  broke  up, 
Elliot  dropped  behind  and  pressing  his  hand,  said  warmly  : 
"  Remember,  my  dear  fellow,  that  new  friends  are  strong 
friends,  and  that  I  claim  the  right  of  your  friendship.  I 
have  your  address  and  will  be  over  to-morrow  to  look  at 
your  pictures  in  the  atelier." 


CHAPTER  V. 

"TRAJAN'S    WAY." 

you  have  met  Trajan  Gray  before,  Carnot,"  said 
Elliot  carelessly,  as  the  former  disappeared. 
"  Yes,  Gray  and  I  are  old  acquaintances.  My  sister 
Theo  has  seen  a  great  deal  of  him  in  various  ways.  They 
met  in  America,  I  believe.  He  has  an  uncommon  history, 
or  one  is  made  for  him,  as  he  has  always  been  something  of 
a  mystery  in  the  *  Quartier.'  He  was  the  most  brilliant 
pupil  in  the  Beaux  Arts — but  wayward  and  obstinate.  He 


"  TRAJAN'S  WA  Y."  47 

passes  among  the  masters  for  an  impracticable,  and  among 
the  students  for  a  genius." 

Elliott  was  eager  to  learn  more  of  his  friend,  and  yet  not 
willing  to  let  the  fact  be  see^n  to  Carnot  and  his  cousin,  so 
he  merely  said  : 

"  Another  man  with  a  story  ?  " 

"  Well,  Trajan  Gray's  story,  so  far  as  I  know  it,  and  it  is 
known  to  but  very  few,  is  rather  a  remarkable  one.  His 
father  was  that  rare  thing — an  Irish  antiquary.  He  was 
Professor  of  History  at  Queen's  College,  in  Belfast.  His 
mother  was  the  daughter  of  a  long  line  of  French  emigre's 
who  had  settled  in  England  during  the  first  revolution,  and 
who  had  made  their  way  by  teaching,  so  that  Trajan  de 
rives  his  Gallic  propensities  from  both  father  and  mother, 
since  the  Irish  are  but  the  French  under  another  name. 
The  Grays  were  originally  Scottish  settled  in  Belfast.  Be 
fore  his  marriage  the  professor  was  an  improvident  bach 
elor,  and  found  it  difficult  to  change  the  practices  of  the 
scholar.  He  was  devoured  by  a  love  for  books  and  a  burn 
ing  patriotism.  His  life-work  was  intended  to  be  a  history 
of  the  Caesars,  which  should  supplement  that  of  Gibbon,  of 
which  he  was  whimsically  fond. 

"  It  was  from  this  devotion  to  Roman  literature  that  his 
only  child  got  the  rather  fantastic  name  of  Trajan.  In  1845 
the  professor,  taking  too  active  a  part  with  the  Young 
Ireland  party  in  the  ebullition  of  that  year,  lost  his  place  in 
the  college,  and  after  a  great  many  vicissitudes  emigrated 
to  America.  There  he  became  a  hack-writer  for  a  number 
of  periodicals,  but  died  before  he  had  been  ten  years  in  the 
country.  Trajan  was  born  in  New  York,  the  very  year  of 
the  family's  arrival  there.  The  mother  and  son,  left  de 
pendent,  were  put  to  a  great  many  straits,  the  boy  himself 
finishing  his  school  days  at  just  the  time  when  most  lads 
begin.  But  studious  and  observant  from  a  child,  he  picked 
up  much  by  observation  and  incessant  reading,  at  such 
moments  of  leisure  as  could  be  found  in  the  various  callings 


48  TRAJAN. 

that  he  was  forced  to  adopt,  and  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  War  he  was  in  a  remunerative  and  comparatively  en 
viable  position  as  proof-reader  in  a  great  American  publish 
ing  house.  Here  chance  threw  him  into  association  with 
an  eminent  American  artist,  who  was  struck  by  his  clever 
ness  in  drawing  and  recommended  him  to  take  lessons.  In 
a  few  years  Trajan  had  perfected  himself  in  all  the  details 
of  the  art,  and  his  mother  dying  in  1863  he  enlisted  in  the 
army,  served  a  year  and  a  half  with  his  regiment  before 
Richmond,  and  was  mustered  out  as  lieutenant  at  the  close 
of  the  Rebellion,  in  June,  1865.  While  in  the  army  he 
wrote  an  account  of  the  famous  slaughter  at  Cold  Harbor, 
which,  when  published  in  a  New  York  paper,  for  a  moment 
shook  Grant's  fame  as  a  tactician.  It  was  copied  far  and 
wide.  I  saw  it  myself  in  an  article  in  the  Revue  des  Deux 
Mondes.  He  was  offered  a  post  on  the  Oriflamme  on  leav 
ing  the  army,  but  though  remarkably  successful  did  not 
relish  the  life  of  a  journalist. 

In  1866,  when  Prussia  was  marching  against  Austria, 
Trajan  was  sent  to  the  seat  of  war — but  the  campaign  was 
ended  before  he  got  to  the  field.  His  journal  was  dissatis 
fied  with  the  result,  and  his  drafts  on  the  office  were  .re 
turned  protested.  He  quit  journalism  in  disgust  and  put 
into  execution  a  purpose  he  had  long  meditated,  to  study 
painting.  He  entered  the  Beaux  Arts  and  worked  like  a 
madman  day  and  night  for  two  years,  enchanting  the  in 
structors  by  his  ardor,  and  surprising  his  comrades  by  his 
rapid  mastery  of  the  French,  German  and  Spanish  schools. 

"  His  pictures  were  at  once  recognized  as  original  ;  and 
he  carried  off  some  of  the  more  valued  prizes  of  the  Salon. 
He  narrowly  missed  the  prize  of  Rome.  It  was  no  secret 
that  he  was  deprived  of  it  by  a  very  unworthy  intrigue. 
He  has  passed  years  in  Italy  and  Germany,  and  has  been 
several  times  to  America,  and  it  is  always  said  of  him,  that 
if  he  had  been  born  without  a  tongue  there  is  nothing  in 
art  he  might  not  accomplish,  But  he  wounds  his  best 


"  TRAJAN'S  WA  Y."  49 

friends,  and  repels  his  most  ardent  admirers  by  such  vehe 
mences  and  injudicious  outbreaks  as  you  witnessed  this 
evening.  I  have  heard  them  before,  and  don't  mind  them. 
He  is  a  man  of  exquisite  tenderness  of  heart,  as  every  poor 
fellow  in  the  Quartier  can  attest,  for  when  he  has  money  he 
never  uses  it  for  himself,  and  his  eccentricities  of  this  sort 
are  merely  commented  on  by  his  comrades  with  the  ex 
pression,  *  Oh,  that  is  Trajan's  way  ? ' ' 

"  Why,  there  ought  to  be  a  good  deal  in  such  a  man  as 
that,"  said  Philip,  reflectively.  "  I  recollect,  now  that  you 
mention  these  circumstances,  I,  too,  have  heard  of  his 
self-denying  generosity  with  those  who  have  no  claim  upon 
him." 

Elliot  said  nothing,  but  he  made  a  resolution  secretly 
that  Trajan  had  one  friend  at  least,  who  would  not  be  re 
pelled  by  thoughtlessness  in  speech  or  waywardness  in  con 
duct.  He  was,  by  no  means,  satisfied  with  Garnet's  sketch 
of  his  new  friend's  history,  and  meant  himself  to  unravel 
the  strange  chain  of  circumstances  which  had  driven  a  man 
of  such  fine  metal  to  the  verge  of  the  rather  vulgar  destiny 
of  suicide. 

At  the  opera  the  three  young  men  found  the  box  already 
occupied  by  Elliot's  mother  and  sister.  Mrs.  Arden  was 
a  charming,  gentle-faced  woman,  with  whom  a  faint  resem 
blance  could  be  traced  in  Elliot's  face. 

"  Well,  Philip,  you  have  found  the  runaway,"  she  said,  as 
the  three  entered,  after  an  affectionate  greeting  from 
mother,  son  and  sister.  "  Elliot,  your  sister  sent  for  you  to 
your  rooms  this  evening,  but  the  messenger  said  you  had 
not  been  there  since  noon." 

"  What  did  you  want,  Edith  ?  "  said  Elliot,  turning  to  his 
sister,  as  she  gave  her  hand  with  cordial  warmth  to  her 
cousin  and  Carnot. 

Without   waiting  for    the    response,   he  continued,  with 
rather  a  tone  of   disappointment,    "  Where  are  Bella  and 
Aunt  Caroline  ;  are  they  not  coming  to-night  ?  " 
4 


50  TRAJAN. 

"  No,"  said  Edith  ;  "  Bella  is  very  much  fatigued  from 
an  excursion  to  Sceaux,  and  Aunt  Caroline  is  suffering  from 
one  of  her  regular  neuralgic  attacks.  They  expect  you 
over,  however,  in  case  we  caught  sight  of  you.  We've 
ordered  supper  after  the  opera." 

Elliot's  interest  in  the  prima  donna  did  not  seem  of  the 
most  lively  sort,  and  after  the  second  act  of  "  Trovatore  " 
he  said  carelessly  :  "  I  think  I  will  go  and  see  the  invalids. 
I  am  tired  of  "  Trovatore,"  if  it  is  the  sweetest  opera  Verdi 
ever  wrote.  One  gets  tired  of  too  much  sweetness." 

"That  depends  a  little  on  the  kind,  doesn't  it?"  said 
Philip  maliciously. 

Elliot  pretended  not  to  hear  him,  saluted  his  mother  and 
sister  affectionately  and,  with  an  au  revoir  to  Carnot  and 
Philip,  left  the  box.  Reaching  the  street  he  took  a  cab  and 
was  rolled  rapidly  through  the  Boulevard  des  Italiens  as  far 
as  the  Church  of  the  Madeleine.  Then,  turning  down  the  Rue 
Royale,  and  past  the  glittering  lamps  of  the  Place  de  la 
Concorde,  he  continued  up  that  enchanting  sweep  of  lights 
and  foliage,  crowned  in  the  dim  distance  by  the  great 
shadow  of  the  "Arch  of  the  Star."  The  cab  stopped  near 
the  corner  of  the  Rue  Fran£ois  I.  The  young  man,  ringing 
a  bell,  was  admitted  to  the  hallway  of  one  of  the  imposing 
mansions  of  this  aristocratic  quarter.  The  concierge  came 
to  the  guichet  as  he  passed,  and  it  speaks  volumes  for  the 
charm  of  Elliot's  manner,  that  even  that,  at  all  times  surly 
and  repellent  personage — for  concierge  is  but  another  name 
for  this — smiled  with  pleasure  and  informed  monsieur  that 
he  was  "  the  welcome  one."  With  a  good-humored  re 
sponse  Elliott  ascended  the  marble  stairs,  luxuriously  car 
peted  in  heavy  purple  tapestry,  and  rang  the  bell  at  the 
massive  double  doorway  of  walnut.  In  a  moment  it  swung 
open  and  a  man-servant  took  the  young  man's  hat  and 
gloves. 

Conjecturing  that  the  indisposition  which  had  kept  his 
cousin  from  the  opera  had  not  confined  her  to  her  room, 


"  TRAJAN'S  WA  Y."  51 

Elliot  asked  the  servant  where  she  was.  With  the  elabor 
ate  particularity  of  the  French  domestic  he  answered 
gravely  : 

"  Mademoiselle  is  in  the  salon  with  madame  her  mother. 
Madame,  your  mother,  and  mademoiselle,  your  sister,  are  at 
the  opera  and  left  word  that  you  should  go  there  if  you 
came." 

In  the  library  he  found  a  young  girl  seated  beside  a  table 
with  an  argand  burner  at  her  side,  reading,  and  on  a  low 
couch,  at  a  little  distance,  the  figure  of  a  lady  reclined. 
Both  looked  up  in  surprise  as  the  door  opened,  the  young  girl 
rose  and  held  out  her  hand. 

"  Welcome  at  last,  Mr.  Wanderer,"  said  the  latter,  archly. 
"  If  you  have  not  already  given  an  account  of  yourself,  now 
is  the  chosen  time.  We  expected  you  to  go  with  us  to 
Sceaux.  I  shall  never  be  able  to  tell  you  the  wonders  of 
the  pavilions  and  the  gayety  of  the  dance  under  the 
trees." 

"Ah  !  you  were  at  the  fete  champetre,  were  you,  frivol 
ous  young  woman  ?  I  am  surprised  that  the  dragons  of  pro 
priety  permitted  you  into  such  disreputable  dissipation." 

"  Why,  what  can  you  mean,  Elliot  ? "  said  a  languid, 
querulous  voice,  as  the  young  man  went  over  and  greeted 
the  invalid.  "  I  thought  Sceaux  was  one  of  the  suburbs  of 
Paris  most  frequented  by  the  upper  classes." 

"  Well,  you  know,  the  resorts  of  the  nobility  are  not  always 
above  reproach,,  and  Bella  can  tell  you  that  the  very  place  a 
prudent  young  person  \vould  be  wisest  in  avoiding  would  be 
the  haunts  of  those  favored  mortals." 

"Don't  tell  me  that,"  responded  the  invalid.  "You 
can  not  make  me  believe  that  people  who  have  grown  up 
with  the  refined  influences  of  birth  and  education  will  de 
mean  themselves  by  mixing  with  common  people  in  vulgar 
pleasures.  I  won't  believe  it  !  " 

"  Very  well,  auntie,  indulge  in  your  admiration  for  the 
nobility,  and  cherish  your  illusions  as  long  as  you  can,  and 


52  TRAJAN. 

while  you  can  keep  at  such  a  safe  distance  from  them  as  you 
are,  perhaps  that  will  be  no  difficult  feat." 

Aunt  Caroline  could  have  been  heard  rather  inarticu 
lately  reproaching  the  young  man  for  willful  perversion  of 
both  her  words  and  sentiments  ;  but  as  she  was  fatigued, 
she  didn't  propose  to  set  herself  right  in  the  eyes  of  persons 
for  whose  good  opinion  she  was  '  really  indifferent.  While 
this  murmured  sarcasm  was  shaping  itself  at  his  expense, 
the  object  of  it  had  narrowly  missed  overturning  the  argand 
burner,  in  an  inexplicable  attempt  to  force  a  chair  nearer 
his  cousin  than  the  nature  of  the  conversation  seemed  to 
demand,  pre-supposing  the  young  girl  in  the  possession  of 
unimpaired  hearing.  She  laid  down  her  book — but  said 
nothing.  The  young  man  adjusting  himself  comfortably  in 
the  chair  regarded  the  shining  head  before  him  through 
the  delicate  wreaths  of  smoke  exhaling  from  a  Turkish 
cigarette. 

It  was  a  charming  face  that  confronted  him.  Bella's 
complexion  was  a  rare  olive,  delicate,  transparent,  and  at 
times  almost  pink  in  its  delicacy — with  eyes  soft,  and  lumin 
ously  brown,  with  such  tricks  of  change  as  required  a  long 
acquaintance  to  enable  one  to  affirm  with  confidence  their 
color.  Elliot  was  fond  of  telling  his  cousin  that  she  never 
could  be  painted,  because  the  artist  would  never  undertake 
such  lips.  They  were  not  perfect  in  outline  ;  they  were 
every  thing  that  is  implied  in  plumpness,  save  the  familiar 
and  soubrette  notion.  Plumpness  effaces  elegance,  yet 
the  girl  would  be  called,  before  every  thing  else,  elegant 
— that  is,  in  repose  of  manner,  musical  intonation  in  the  softest 
of  voices  and  repression  in  vivacity,  which  renders  a  woman 
at  certain  moments  adorable.  It  was  plain  to  be  seen  that 
the  merriness  in  the  eye  came  from  a  true  poise  and  mastery 
of  self,  which,  though  rare  in  woman,  is  an  incomparable 
charm  when  found.  It  is  difficult  to  tell  the  age  of  a  girl  of 
such  peculiar  qualities — facial  and  mental.  Bella  was  in 
her  twenty-first  year. — The  cousins  had  never  seen  much  of 


"  TRAJAN'S  WA  Y."  53 

each  other  until  the  death  of  Mr.  Briscoe,  who,  having  gone 
to  California  in  "  '49,"  was  virtually  lost  to  his  family  in 
New  York  until  the  completion  of  the  Pacific  Railway  in 
1864 — when  he  returned  a  fourfold  millionaire  to  die  and 
be  buried  in  the  vicinage  of  his  fathers,  near  the  home 
village  in  Wyndham  county,  Vermont.  It  was  not  until  his 
Harvard  course  was  done  that  Elliot,  coming  home  in  the 
flush  of  a  brilliant  graduation,  found  his  cousin  Bella  estab 
lished  with  his  family  in  New  York.  Like  most  young  men  of 
aspiration  and  no  bread-winning  needs,  Elliot  had  given  no 
thought  to  marriage — indeed  the  subject,  had  he  stopped  to 
reflect  over  it,  would  have  seemed  ludicrously  out  of  place  at 
his  age.  He  protested  to  his  rSother  that  he  was  going  to  make 
a  name  equal  to  the  distinction  of  the  family,  and  until  then 
he  did  not  propose  marrying.  His  mother  made  no  strenu 
ous  objection  to  this  resolve  of  her  only  son — but  his  sister 
was  at  once  a  declared  ally  to  the  project  ;  for,  as  she  often 
said  to  her  mother  in  confidence — "  There  isn't  a  girl  in 
New  York  fit  for  Elliot — he's  a  prince  among  men." 

"But,  my  child,  he  will  find  plenty  of  princesses  ;  there 
never  was  a  fine  soul  that  didn't  sooner  or  later  find  a  con 
genial  one — I  shall  be  well  satisfied  if  Elliot  finds  a  good 
girl,  and  he  can  share  his  fine  qualities  with  her — he  has 
enough  for  both."  Edith  was  not  quite  satisfied  with  her 
mother's  qualified  devotion  to  the  prince,  and  often  confided 
her  hopes  to  Bella.  That  young  lady,  while  astutely  assent 
ing  to  her  cousin's  sisterly  panegyrics,  it  was  remarked, 
avoided  any  original  proposition  expressive  of  her  own 
opinion — a  diplomatic  reserve  which  Edith  had  not  stopped 
to  weigh,  as  a  less  absorbed  advocate  would  be  very  likely  to 
do. 

Highly  as  Edith  placed  her  brother,  he  secretly  be 
lieved  her  to  be  the  pearl  of  girls.  One  of  the  sorrows 
of  his  life  had  been  the  passion  of  a  college  friend 
for  the  young  girl.  He  had  known  the  youth  in  college  as 
a  gay,  dissolute  fellow,  uncertain  in  his  tendencies  and 


54  TRAJAN. 

incapable  of  the  abnegation  implied  in  the  love  that  should 
win  a  noble  girl.  He  shrank  from  interfering  in  the  affair, 
but  a  heavy  load  was  taken  from  his  heart  when  the  young 
man,  after  months  of  courtship — sent  for  him  as  he  was 
quitting  Edith's  presence  and  pressing  his  hand  with  husky 
voice,  said  : 

"  Good-by,  Arden,  old  fellow  ;  I'm  going  to  Europe  to 
morrow.  I  hate  this  infernal  country." 

There  were  no  words  needed  between  the  brother  and 
sister.  Elliot  kissed  the  young  girl's  agitated  lips  and 
soothed  the  first  sorrow  that  she  had  ever  known — for  she 
had  been  entirely  innocent  of  the  sentiment  which  had  kept 
the  disappointed  lover  so  constantly  by  her  side.  The  young 
men  that  made  up  the  court  of  Arden  House  were  never  at 
a  loss  to  understand  their  relations  with  the  daughter  of  the 
family  after  that.  Whether  Bella  had,  with  the  keener  per 
ception  of  her  sex,  marked  the  episode,  neither  brother  nor 
sister  ever  knew,  but  she  seemed  to  have  learned  the  lesson 
— for  even  Elliot  was  made  to  see,  that  while  he  held  a  high 
place  in  her  esteem,  there  were  none  of  the  signs  that  indi 
cated  even  the  incipience  of  a  serious  passion. 

To  some  the  lesson  of  life,  its  mysteries,  its  impulses, 
come  only  from  experience  ;  to  others  the  problem  seems 
laid  bare  like  a  growth  in  grace,  without  words  and  without 
forewarning.  Such  natures  are  the  sweeter,  as  the  man 
whose  career  is  half  made  for  him  is  generally  more  agree 
able  than  the  hapless  mortal  called  the  self-made  man.  -The 
thistle  of  the  second  generation  encouraged  by  friendly  soil, 
has  a  more  delicate  bloom  and  more  shapely  stamen,  than 
the  rose  that  springs  from  a  seed  blown  in  the  air  and  from 
an  uncongenial  soil.  Hardness  is  the  enemy  of  sweetness  ; 
repose  is  but  a  thin  veneer  after  a  life  of  hard  blows  and  the 
ignoble  processes  which  bring  about  material  success.  The 
Ardens  were  examples  of  the  repose  of  fine  conditions.  The 
fortune  that  supported  the  family  in  luxury,  which  good 
breeding  kept  from  ostentation,  gave  that  inbred  ease  and 


"  TRAJAN'S  WAY:'  55 

refinement  which  conies  from  a  knowledge  of  equality  among 
social  forces  and  not  the  pretention  to  superiority  which 
too  often  mars  the  self-made  rich  and  successful.  So  far 
as  it  is  possible  to  the  infirmities  of  human  nature,  the  Ardens 
were  democrats  ;  that  is,  they  not  only  believed,  but  they 
acted  on  the  faith,  that  equality  exists,  and  can  not  be  sub 
verted  by  the  accident  of  wealth  or  the  favor  of  fortune. 
Possibly,  if  put  to  a  severe  strain,  any  one  member  of  the 
family  would  have  broken  down  ;  but  that  they  did  not  as  a 
family,  this  history  is  a  proof  ;  for  if  they  had,  the  events 
which  form  its  main  thread  would  never  have  come  to  me 
to  chronicle. 

"  You  are  reading  *  Romola '  again,  Mademoiselle  la 
Savante.  I  thought  you  had  committed  it  to  heart  when  we 
were  in  Florence  last  winter,"  said  Elliot,  taking  the  book 
and  looking  at  the  page. 

"  I  thought  I  was  getting  the  best  from  the  story  in  Flor 
ence,  but  I  have  been  haunted  by  the  ghost  of  Tito.  I  have 
never  ceased  to  see  his  beautiful  dead  face,  with  the  cruel 
fingers  of  Baldassarre  clutched  about  the  tender  neck.  Do 
you  know  I  resent  the  author's  disposal  of  the  charming 
Greek." 

"  Tito  was  a  wretched  cad.  He  was  a  false  friend,  a  faith 
less  husband,  a  treacherous,  heartless  son.  I  could  have  for 
given  him  the  denial  of  Baldassarre — for,  after  all,  the  old 
man  was  not  his  father,  but  I  should  have  no  compunction 
for  a  man  that  could  trifle  with  such  a  heart  and  brain  as 
Romola's  !  " 

"  But  that  is  in  the  nature  of  man,  after  all,  isn't  it  ?  "  and 
the  young  girl  half  closed  her  eyes  to  avoid  the  indignant 
and  reproachful  glance  that  was  fastened  upon  her. 

"  Upon  my  word,  Cousin  Bella,  I  can't  imagine  where  you 
get  such  ideas  of  men.  I  know  none  such — out  of  high- 
pressure  romance,  and  even  there  they  move  with  a  mechani 
cal  and  perfunctory  action,  as  though  the  creation  of  them 
rather  tried  the  ingenuity  of  their  authors.  Flesh-and-blood 


5<>  TRAJAN. 

men  are  perhaps,  as  Carlyle  says,  mostly  fools,  but  few  mefl 
are  knaves  from  disposition,  or  with  opportunities  to  be  any 
thing  else.  I'm  afraid  this  foreign  atmosphere  is  making  you 
cynical,  or  putting  ideas  in  your  head  that  are  rather  the 
property  of  Frenchmen  than  the  expression  of  our  sort  of 
human  nature." 

"  In  other  words,  Elliot,  you  fancy  that  a  young  woman 
should  think  of  men  only  in  the  light  of  possible  husbands, 
and  by  investing  them  "with  spotlessness  from  the  ways  of  the 
world,  create  that  state  in  them  ? " 

"  By  no  means.  I  hold  simply  that  a  woman  of  heart  and 
refinement — and  one  implies  the  other — should  not  seek  the 
abnormal.  Men  may  be  rascals,  women  may  be  insincere 
and  shallow.  I  am  glad  to  say  that  I  know  none,  or  if  I  do 
they  hold  no  place  in  my  mind." 

"  But  for  all  that,  isn't  it  wiser  to  admit  that  there  are 
Titos  in  the  world,  and  knowing  that  they  are  there,  deal 
with  them,  if  we  have  to  do  with  them,  more  humanely  than 
the  creator  of  the  wretched  Greek  ?  " 

"  No  ;  I,  for  one,  would  rather  have  agreeable  mediocrity 
for  camaraderie  than  all  the  attainments  of  the  subtle,  money- 
loving  egoist  there — pointing  to  Tito  in  the  picture  of  the 
first  mutiny  with  Romola.  Or  take  another  illustration  of 
the  same  genre — I  would  rather  fashion  a  mate  out  of  a  vil 
lage  tow-head  than  sit  on  the  throne  with  a  Borgia,  a  Medici, 
or  a  Brinvilliers." 

"  There's  nothing  of  the  heroic  in  you,  cousin  mine,  nor 
for  that  matter  is  there  in  me,  but  I  am  perversely  inclined 
to  the  idealizing  of  historical  monsters." 

At  this  moment  mamma  yawned  portentously,  arose, 
gathering  an  ample  drapery  about  her,  and  coming  over  to 
the  mantel,  adjusted  her  eye-glasses  and  examined  the  clock. 
"  After  eleven  ;  I  really  can  not  wait  for  them  ;  I  should 
have  been  in  bed  an  hour  ago  !  " 

"  By  the  way,  auntie,  I  have  found  just  the  man  you  have 
been  seeking — a  young  American  who  uses  French  like  a 


"  TRAJAN'S  WA  Y."  57 

Parisian  ;  a  painter  of  remarkably  fine  pictures,  which,  as 
he  is  not  the  fashion,  he  can  not  sell — distinguished  in  the 
Beaux-Arts  as  a  draughtsman." 

"  Who  is  he  ? "  asked  Bella  with  lively  interest.  "  Some 
sour-tempered,  disappointed  young  man,  I've  no  doubt,  who 
will  make  me  wretched  to  look  at." 

"  There  is  no  need  of  your  looking  at  him,"  said  Mrs. 
Briscoe,  with  reproachful  asperity.  "  If  he  knows  French 
well  and  can  give  you  the  instruction  you  require  in  draw 
ing,  I  don't  see  what  possible  interest  his  personal  appear 
ance  can  have  ? " 

Elliot  restrained  an  impulse  to  laugh  as  he  pictured  the 
classic  face  of  Trajan  and  the  comments  of  his  unknown 
client. 

"  I  am  not  going  to  give  you  any  idea  what  he  is  like. 
He  will  dine  with  us  to-morrow,  and  if  we  can  secure  him 
for  a  few  months  I  shall  consider  myself  an  exceptional 
ambassador,  and  you,  mesdames,  the  luckiest  women  in 
Paris." 

A  rumble  of  a  carriage  rolling  over  the  paved  court  an 
nounced  the  opera-party.  A  minute  later  Edith  entered 
with  Philip  Kent  and  Jules  Carnot. 

Bella  rose  and  gave  her  hand  cordially  to  the  two  gentle 
men,  expressing  lively  regret  at  missing  the  opera. 

"You  didn't  miss  much,"  said  Philip.  "  Carvalho  was  in 
execrable  voice.  The  tenor  was  lukewarm  and  indifferent. 
I  remark  that  of  late  the  Italiens  doesn't  give  itself  much 
concern,  unless  there  is  a  royalty  present." 

"  What  have  you  done  with  mother  ?  "  said  Elliot. 

"  Mamma  has  gone  out  to  see  that  we  get  a  reward  for  the 
fatigues  of  the  evening — ah,  there  you  are,  mamma — there 
is  an  inquiry  for  you.  Elliot  was  afraid  we  had  left  you  on 
our  way  home." 

Mrs.  Arden  laughed  cheerfully.  She  seemed  more  like 
the  sister  of  her  big  son  than  the  mother.  She  was  barely 
seated  when  \hzportttres  were  drawn  aside  at  the  end  of  the 


5  8  TRAJAN. 

room,  and  the  butler,  standing  in  the  center,  announced  in 
the  French  fashion  : 

"  Madam  is  served." 

The  supper-table  revived  the  animation  that  the  opera 
overcast.  Bella,  who  was  seated  between  Jules  and  Elliot, 
astonished  the  gentlemen  by  her  familiarity  with  the  cross 
currents  of  the  society  of  the  capital. 

"  I  am  hungry  to  go  to  the  country,"  she  said  during  a 
lull  in  the  conversation  ;  "but  I  hope  we  shall  not  go  to  any 
of  the  watering-places  in  vogue.  They  differ  from  Paris 
only  as  a  section  of  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain  differs  from 
a  section  of  the  Faubourg  St.  Honore,  and  both  are  intoler 
able  to  any  one  who  has  work  to  do." 

"  That  reminds  me,  Elliot,"  said  Mrs.  Briscoe.  "  Will 
your  artist-friend  object  to  leaving  Paris — for  Bella  insists 
on  at  least  three  months  of  real  seclusion." 

"  What  is  the  mystery  ?  "  interposed  Mrs.  Arden  ;  "  have 
you  adopted  an  artist,  Elliot,  to  complete  the  original  col 
lection?"  * 

"  Oh,  I  forgot  to  say  that  I  have  been  fortunate  enough 
to  find  a  man  that  will,  I  think,  instruct  Bella  in  the  things 
she  yearns  to  know — providing  her  whim  outlasts  the  nego 
tiation." 

"  Who  is  it?"  exclaimed  Edith,  looking  at  her  brother  in 
surprise. 

"A  young  American,  Mr.  Trajan  Gray." 

"  What  a  classic  name — Trajan  !  why,  I  shall  be  thinking 
of  the  conquests  of  the  Antonines,  the  walls  on  the 
Euphrates  and  the  pass  over  the  Balkans — to  say  nothing  of 
the  columns  in  the  forum,"  said  Bella,  with  an  air  of  uncon 
scious  pedantry  that  set  the  rest  laughing. 

"  I  hope  this  Caesarian  young  person  confines  his  learning 
to  his  name,  Elliot,"  said  Mrs.  Arden,  "for  if  he  encourages 
Bella  in  her  present  rage  for  the  abstruse  she  will  be  com 
panion  for  neither  man  nor  gods." 

"As  to  that,"  said  Philip,  dryly,  "  there  are  pedants  of 


"  TRAJAN'S  WA  Y»  59 

ignorance  as  well  as  knowledge,  and  the  time  that  the  work 
laid  out  for  a  fashionable  young  woman  leaves  for  study  will 
not  give  much  chance  for  a  dangerous  profundity.  Miss 
Bella  will  drink  at  the  Pierian  spring,  until  she  feels  the 
need  of  a  more  intoxicating  draught." 

"  By  Jove,  Philip,  old  fellow,  because  the  sex  is  antipa 
thetic  to  you  is  no  reason  that  you  should  indulge  in  gener 
alizations,  which,  from  any  other  tongue  than  yours  would 
sound  brutal,"  rejoined  Elliot,  affecting  a  tone  of  admoni 
tion. 

"  Brutal — in  the  sense  that  there  is  nothing  so  brutal  as  a 
fact,  perhaps.  But  learning  in  women  is  as  discordant  as 
raiment  on  the  lily  or  foot-notes  to  a  poem." 

"I  am  quite  of  Philip's  opinion,"  said  Carnot,  with 
steady  composure.  "  Learned  women  are  uncomfortable 
sort  of  people.  I  never  knew  but  one.  She  was  a  Russian 
countess,  who  set  up  for  doctor.  She  was  clever  enough  in 
her  profession,  but  her  conversation  was  what  the  French 
call  academic — quite  beyond  every  body  else.  She  was  tol 
erated,  I  think,  more  because  of  her  rank  than  any  thing 
else.  There  were  few  who  could  resist  the  distinction  of  a 
real  countess  for  family  physician.  She  was  a  skinny  little 
woman — all  cheek-bone  and  eyes — but  she  had  countless 
offers,  and  finally  gave  her  learning  and  her  meager  charms 
to  an  abstracted  member  of  her  own  profession — noted  more 
for  the  fervor  of  his  devotion  to  music  than  medicine.  She 
carried  on  the  practice  and  his  clients  were  generally  bene 
fited  by  the  union." 

"  No  woman  ever  changed  the  destiny  of  the  world  by 
superior  learning,"  said  Philip,  "  while  many  women  have 
revolutionized  the  destinies  of  the  race  without  it." 

"On  that  basis,"  said  Elliot,  "madmen  and  monks  have 
been  the  most  potent  factors  in  the  destinies  of  the  race — 
from  Alexander  to  Luther." 

"  Well,  young  people,  if  you  insist  on  holding  a  philo 
sophical  discussion  you  may  take  your  cigars  and  we  will 


60  TRAJAN- 

leave    you,"   said   Mrs.    Arden,   who    had    been    listening 
abstractedly, 

The  ladies  arose,  bidding  the  young  men  good-night,  and 
left  the  room.  The  trio  smoked  for  a  half  hour  or  more, 
and  then  Philip  and  Carnot  bade  Elliot  adieu. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

TRAJAN  RENEWS  HIS  YOUTH. 

rPRAJAN  went  from  the  group  in  the  Cafe  Voltaire  that 
1  memorable  night  in  May,  with  the  mandate  of  a  new  pur 
pose  on  his  heart  and  conscience.  The  impetus  wrought  in 
him  by  a  few  hours'  companionship  with  a  nature  serene, 
open  and  loyal,  had  begun  the  workings  of  a  profound 
change  in  him,  which  while  it  was  to  involve  him  in  tortur 
ing  trials  and  even  deadly  peril,  expanded  every  virile  force 
in  his  nature.  As  he  stood  irresolute  in  the  dim  shadows  of 
the  gabled  edifice,  he  regretted  that  he  had  quitted  the  con 
genial  influences  of  his  chivalrous  friend.  He  distrusted  the 
silence  of  the  night.  He  dreaded  the  wrenching  hand  of 
remembrance  tearing  at  his  heart-strings  and  goading  him 
to  the  dastard  resolution  of  the  day.  But  a  singular  syncope 
had  fallen  upon  his  faculties  ;  the  pain  of  the  past,  numbed 
by  its  own  unchecked  force,  gave  but  feeble  intimation  of 
what  it  had  been.  The  interest  of  Elliot,  his  compelling 
unreserve,  brought  new  images,  more  active  than  the  pallid 
shades  of  wrong  and  despair  that  had  possessed  him.  He 
realized  in  the  brief  companionship,  the  despicable  cowardice 
of  his  own  conduct.  He  was  ashamed  of  the  figure  he  had 
made — agonized  would,  perhaps,  be  the  better  expression  of 
his  self-abased,  present  appreciation  of  his  purpose.  The 
more  he  reflected  upon  the  incidents  of  the  day,  the  more 
fatuous,  incomprehensible  and  unmanly  his  impatience  and 


TRAJA  N  RENE  WS  HIS  YO  U  TH.  6 1 

supine  surrender  to  his  morbid  impulse  seemed  to  him.  What ! 
a  man  who  had  faced  death  on  the  battle-field,  who  had 
borne  poverty  and  laughed  at  its  sordid  shifts  :  who  made  a 
cult  of  self-denial  and  a  servant  of  adversity,  deliver  himself 
like  a  brainless  debauche  to  the  ignoble  and  sickly  impulse  of 
suicide  ?  He  burned  in  a  fever  of  self-abasement. 

Nor  could  he  delude  himself  by  the  sophistry  that  faith 
less  love  was  the  single  woe  he  had  resolved  to  fly.  He  had 
wickedly  persuaded  himself  that  the  children  of  men,  divi 
ded  by  warring  interests,  had  no  tie  in  common.  That  he, 
having  no  hold  on  mankind,  the  world  had  no  claim  upon 
him.  That  because  betrayed  love  made  life  a  blank,  his 
hand  had  lost  its  craft,  his  brain  its  creative  resources. 
That  courage  and  hope  gone  from  him,  he  should  find  him 
self  homeless,  breadless.  That  without  purpose  or  place  life 
was  not  only  not  worth  living,  but  impossible.  For  months 
in  the  delicious  torments  of  a  love,  not  without  hope,  he  had 
been  unable  to  hold  himself  to  bread-winning.  When  the 
blow  fell,  what  inspiration  was  there  left  ?  The  shapes  of  his 
pencil,  the  touch  of  his  brush,  no  longer  responded  to  the 
subtle  ideas  of  perfection  he  had  once  evoked  from  the  can 
vas.  The  end  of  endeavor  came,  and  it  was  the  fulfillment 
of  the  law  of  life  to  close  the  struggle  in  which  he  was  strip 
ped  not  only  of  arms  but  the  forces  to  wield  them. 
Poverty  he  had  faced  ;  but  then  ambition's  lamps  were 
aflame  in  the  horizon  of  his  hope  and  he  could  smile  at  it. 
But  in  the  wreck  of  all  he  had  set  his  heart  upon — what  good? 
Why  strive  ? 

Then  came  a  humiliated  sense  of  beginning  life  anew — a 
sort  of  moral  ticket-of-leave  man.  Elliot  could  not  compre 
hend  the  just  mean  of  the  motives  driving  him  to  destruc 
tion.  Then  he  wondered  if  the  young  man  had  really  un 
derstood  the  sentiment,  rather  than  satisfaction  of  hunger 
that  had  impelled  him  to  pick  up  the  crust  ? 

He  felt  that  he  would  have  been  better  satisfied  if  the 
Samaritan  had  seen  into  his  soul  and  had  been  able  to  see 


62  TRAJAN. 

that  the  act  was  merely  a  part  of  the  design  of  death  that  had 
filled  his  mind.  To  be  a  beggar — that  was  the  horror  of  his 
life  up  to  the  very  picking  of  the  crusts.  He  could  have 
gone  to  a  dozen  acquaintances  and  eked  out  weeks,  months, 
— perhaps  years,  sharing  the  reputation  of  the  careless,  jolly 
spendthrifts  that  filled  the  quarter.  It  was  from  the  begin 
ning  of  such  a  career  of  what  he  loathed  as  baseness  that 
Trajan  had  made  up  his  mind  to  fly.  He  had  known  other 
fellows,  clever  as  himself — fellows,  even,  who  had  sold  pic 
tures  at  good  prices  to  rich  Americans — fall  into  the  fatal 
disregard  of  scrupulousness,  and  had  heard  them  lightly 
spoken  of,  seen  them  repulsed  and  avoided  by  men  who  in 
kindness  rather  than  repugnance  invented  clumsy  expedients 
for  avoiding  them.  For  between  borrower  and  lender,  it  is 
the  lender  who  generally  suffers  most  poignantly  the  inability 
of  a  friend  to  repay,  though  between  men  of  delicacy  the 
misery  of  the*  relation  is  about  equal.  If  the  borrower  be 
servant  to  the  lender,  the  master  is  the  sufferer  in  the 
service  rendered.  For  if  the  two  be  equal,  delicacy  forbids 
transforming  the  loan  into  a  gift,  and  circumstances  often 
make  it  a  species  of  theft.  To  the  hapless  borrower  it  seems 
such.  He  begins  by  observing  the  most  ceremonious  be 
havior  and  ends  in  avoiding  the  man  whom  circumstances 
make  him  wrong.  Mutual  distrust  cements  the  coldness  and 
the  end  is  hatred  on  the  one  hand,  and,  unless  the  lender  be 
a  soul  of  exceptional  nobility,  contempt  upon  the  other. 

Trajan  had  watched  piteous  dramas  of  this  sort.  Indeed 
he  was  himself  a  victim  of  many  of  them,  for  when  he  had 
money,  all  who  asked  shared  it.  He  had  striven  to  prevent 
the  usual  consequences,  but  he  had  seen  with  sorrow  and 
despair  that  his  advances  were  ill  received.  He  had  proved 
the  odious  maxim,  that  there  is  no  wrong  so  bitter  as  the 
doing  of  a  good  deed  that  can  not  be  returned.  He  walked 
along  the  quai.  The  lamps  were  gleaming — throwing  gro 
tesque  angles  of  light  half-way  over  the  dark  current  of  the 
Seine.  He  even  turned  into  the  bridgeway  where  he  had 


TRAJAN  RENE  WS  HIS  YO  UTH.  63 

stood  a  few  hours  before  contemplating  it,  as  one  does  the 
approaching  railway  train  that  is  to  take  him  on  a  long 
journey.  His  mind  had  been  perfectly  tranquil.  He  had 
longed  for  a  rest  that  should  not  be  harassed  by  the  cares 
investing  his  days  and  the  anguish  of  a  bitter  delusion.  He 
wondered  as  he  leaned  over  the  stone  balustrade,  how  he 
could  have  been  so  mad — for,  after  all,  if  the  worst  came  to 
the  worst,  wasn't  the  recruiting  station  open  to  him  yonder  ? 

But  he  was  forced  to  own  that  it  was  not  the  fear  of  finding 
nothing  to  do  that  had  made  death  seem  a  delicious  rest. 
Trajan,  like  most  of  us,  when  confronted  by  moral  retro 
spection,  insisted  on  shutting  out  the  real  cause  of  his  weak 
ness.  Tie  watched  the  swift  current  of  the  river  and  laughed 
to  himself  as  he  saw  the  gendarme  regarding  him  furtively. 
The  gendarme,  poor  man,  divined  from  experience  the  mean 
ing  of  the  young  man's  contemplation,  and  he  resolved  to 
spare  himself  the  disagreeable  flurry  of  fishing  the  slender 
looking  figure  from  the  water,  so  he  made  himself  very  con 
spicuous  to  Trajan,  as  though  intimating  that  while  on  a 
question  of  principle  he  acceded  to  the  right  of  any  citizen 
to  dip  himself  in  the  Seine,  he  objected  to  having  the 
scandal  of  it  in  his  bailiwick.  Trajan,  saluting  him,  gravely 
set  out  to  retrace  his  steps.  At  the  end  of  the  bridge  he 
almost  stumbled  over  the  figure  of  a  child.  It  was  sobbing 
piteously.  Stooping  down,  Trajan  saw  a  pallid  face  framed 
in  a  mass  of  curly  hair. 

"  What  frightens  you,  my  child  ?"  he  said  kindly. 

The  little  creature  who  had  cowered  tremblingly  as  Trajan 
bent  over  him,  reassured  by  the  friendly  voice,  broke  into  a 
passion  of  sobs,  while  his  large  eyes  were  fastened  on  his 
possible  friend.  Sitting  down  on  the  stone  step,  Trajan 
drew  the  waif  toward  hm.  He  was  very  much  soiled,  but 
his  dress  was  not  ragged  nor  coarse.  When  he  had  mastered 
his  sobbing,  Trajan  asked  again  : 

"  Where  are  your  papa  and  mamma  :  why  are  you  in  the 
street  so  late  ? :'  This,  however,  had  the  effect  of  setting 


64  TRAJAN. 

the  child  into  a  new  outburst  of  tears.  Mastering  this  pres 
ently,  and  gaining  confidence  in  Trajan,  he  suddenly  said, 
between  his  sobs  :  "  I'm  hungry — where's  maman  ?  " 

Trajan  colored  to  the  roots  of  his  hair.  His  heart  smote 
him  with  a  guilty  pang.  This  child,  too,  was  hungry — was 
he  the  one  to  refuse  him  bread  ?  He  felt  in  his  pocket,  but 
suddenly  recollected  that  he  had  given  his  last  coin  to  the 
beggar-boy  of  the  afternoon.  The  little  one's  eyes  followed 
the  motion  of  the  hand,  and  his  eyes  which  had  bright 
ened,  filled  with  tears  as  it  came  out  empty.  The  other 
felt  as  embarrassed  as  a  devotee  who  finds  himself  penniless 
when  the  plate  reaches  him  in  church.  What  should  he  do  ? 
The  child  was  evidently  famishing.  Useless  to  take*him  to 
the  neighboring  eating-houses — they  made  it  a  rule  to  refuse 
all  mendicants — besides  it  was  against  the  law  to  ask  for 
bread.  He  suddenly  thought  of  the  store  behind  the  bench 
in  the  Luxembourg. 

"  Come,"  he  said  to  the  child  ;  "  come  with  me,  and  I 
will  find  something  for  you  to  eat.  It  was  a  long  walk  for  a 
little  fellow  faint  with  hunger,  and  Trajan,  his  heart  tender 
with  the  memory  of  the  day,  picked  up  the  tired  child  and 
carried  him  in  his  arms.  He  was  a  comely  little  man  of  six 
or  seven,  with  unkempt  black  hair  and  large  round  eyes. 
He  was  hardly  warmed  by  contact  with  Trajan's  body 
before  he  was  sound  asleep.  On  reaching  the  Luxembourg 
gardens  Trajan  placed  his  little  charge  on  the  first  banquette 
near  the  gate,  and  hastened  to  the  bench,  where  Elliot  had 
left  the  birds'  bread.  It  was  too  dark  to  see,  but  he  knew 
exactly  the  spot  and  the  clump  of  lilacs.  He  leaned  over 
the  bench  and  groped  for  the  crusts.  But  his  arm  wasn't 
long  enough,  evidently,  as  he  felt  nothing.  He  hadn't  even 
a  match,  and  he  didn't  like  to  go  across  the  esplanade 
to  ask  for  one.  Climbing  over  the  bench,  he  kneeled  down, 
and  carefully  searched  to  the  very  roots  of  the  trees.  The 
bread  was  gone — evidently  some  hungry  dog  had  discovered 
the  treasure.  Bitterly  disappointed,  he  climbed  back  over 


TRAJAN  RENEWS  HIS  YOUTH.  65 

the  end  of  the  bench,  which,  overweighted,  tipped  and  let 
the  young  man  fall  backward.  In  the  scramble  he  struck 
the  branches  of  the  lilac  bush  above  him,  tearing  his  sleeve 
and  scraping  the  flesh  from  his  elbow.  He  brought  up 
sprawling  on  the  ground,  his  hand  resting  on  something, 
soft  and  smooth.  He  picked  it  up.  As  nearly  as  he  could 
make  out  it  was  a  thick  pocket-case.  He  got  up,  wondering 
how  it  came  there.  He  could  just  distinguish  at  the  next 
bench  the  form  of  a  woman,  but  he  could  not  see  whether 
she  was  alone  or  not.  As  he  stood  thus  uncertain,  he  heard 
a  scuffle  directly  behind  him  and  the  gruff  voice  of  a  gen 
darme,  saying  : 

"  It's  past  the  hour  for  promenading — the  gates  close  in 
three  minutes — be  off  !  " 

"  But  I'm  waiting  for  some  one,"  remonstrated  the  other, 
"  and  I  can  not  go  till  he  comes." 

"  You  must  wait  outside  the  gate,  then — you  can't  wait 
here." 

With  the  wallet  in  his  hand  Trajan  stopped  to  hear  the 
end  of  this  dialogue,  hoping  it  would  give  him  a  clue  to  the 
owner.  He  asked  himself  if  some  one  was  playing  a  prac 
tical  joke,  for  the  wallet  seemed  to  have  been  thrown  on  the 
ground,  after  he  had  searched  it  for  the  bread.  He  was 
positive  he  had  covered  every  inch  under  the  bushes,  or 
could  it  have  been  secreted  in  the  branches  and  fallen  when 
he  rustled  them  in  clutching  to  stay  his  mishap  ?  The 
gendarme,  observing  him,  came  up  and  ordered  him  to  leave 
the  grounds  as  the  gates  were  about  to  close.  He  suddenly 
bethought  him  of  the  woman — could  she  have  dropped  it  ? 
He  advanced  toward  the  seat  where  she  had  stood  within 
arm's  reach  almost  of  the  branch  that  had  stayed  him  in  his 
descent.  She  had  disappeared.  He  walked  to  the  lamp  in 
the  direction  of  the  gate  to  examine  the  wallet.  It  was  as  he 
suspected.  There  was  a  bit  of  cord  loosely  fastened  around 
it  and  by  which  it  had  very  clearly  been  tied  to  the  twigs 
under  the  leaves.  The  violent  shake  he  had  given  the  branch 
5 


66  TRAJAN. 

when  he  threw  up  his  arms  to  stay  his  fall  had,  no  doubt, 
broken  the  slight  stems,  for  vestiges  of  them  still  remained 
in  the  knot.  He  felt  a  guilty  sense  of  unlawful  possession 
of  this  unexpected  treasure-trove,  convinced  that  it  had 
been  put  there  for  a  purpose.  This  sense  of  involuntary 
purloining  suggested  giving  it  to  the  gendarme  ;  but  he  was 
at  some  distance,  beating  up  the  reluctant  loiterers  lurking 
in  the  leafy  recesses  of  the  garden.  Under  the  impulse 
Trajan  started  toward  the  direction  whence  his  voice  could 
be  heard,  his  jetsam  held  far  from  him  as  if  to  keep  him  from 
the  temptation  of  examining  it.  His  step  was  arrested  by 
a  wailing  little  cry,  broken  by  piteous  sobs  : 

"  Mamma  !  mamma  !  I'm  hungry — give  me  to  eat — I'll  be 
very,  very  good—"  sob — sob — sob. 

This  was  an  argument  that  arrested  Trajan's  uncertainty. 
There  was  no  pretext  for  casuistry  in  that.  He  knew  by 
experience  that  an  empty  stomach  was  a  foe  to  the  refinements 
of  time,  place  and  amenities.  He  quickened  his  step  toward 
infantile  misery,  stronger  than  abstract  proprieties.  He  lifted 
the  half-unconscious  child,  who  clasped  his  neck  confidingly 
with  his  weary  little  arms.  That  hug  would  have  braced 
Trajan  to  highway  robbery.  He  instantly  dedicated  the 
treasure  to  the  child's  wants,  until  he  could  reach  that  to 
which  he  had  a  less  dubitable  title.  "  Give  me  to  eat," 
murmured  the  child,  in  his  pretty  French  familiarity,  his 
voice  faltering.  Trajan  pressed  him  to  his  breast  sooth 
ingly. 

"  Poor  little  fellow  !  wait  and  you  shall  have  to  eat."  He 
slipped  the  wallet  into  his  pocket,  and  with  the  sensation  of 
a  burglar  making  off  with  his  spoil,  fled  rather  than  walked 
out  of  the  garden.  The  motion  brought  the  sobs  to  an  end. 
The  child,  with  the  unconsciousness  of  babyhood  to  rank  or 
conditions,  wound  its  weary  arms  around  the  young  man's 
neck.  People  turned  to  look  at  him  as  he  hurried  down  the 
Rue  Vaugirard,  down  the  Rue  Cherche-midi  until,  after 
twenty  minutes'  walk,  which  was  almost  a  run,  he  came  to 


TRAJA  N  RENE  WS  HIS  YO  U  TH.  6  7 

a  halt  before  a  double  door  opening  level  with  the  street,  in 
the  Rue  du  Dragon.  He  had  to  set  the  boy  down  while 
searching  for  his  key,  opening  the  door  and  lighting  the 
lamp.  The  child  was  sobbing  in  its  sleep,  but  was  awakened 
by  the  sharp  ecstatic  bark  of  a  small  black  dog  that  seemed 
intent  on  eating  Trajan,  while  a  white  cat,  so  large  that  it 
seemed,  at  nrst  glance,  like  an  untranquil  pillow,  stood 
by  the  fireplace  with  its  back  as  much  arched  as  a  very  fat 
cat  aroused  at  such  an  untimely  hour  could  be  expected  to 
elongate  its  vertebrae. 

"Be  quiet,  Trip — sh — sh — "  admonished  Trajan  as  the 
dog,  discovering  baby,  set  up  a  short  howl  of  indignant 
reproach.  The  cat,  too,  discerning  the  new-comer,  made  as 
if  to  accept  it  as  a  rat  ready  for  the  sacrifice,  and  began  to 
conduct  herself  with  as  little  dignity  as  Trip.  The  lamp 
lighted,  Trajan  lifted  the  child,  and  placed  it  on  a  short 
dumpy  sofa — to  the  no  small  astonishment  of  Trip  and  the 
cat,  both  of  whom  claimed  this  as  their  own  special  preserve. 
Trip  began  an  agitated  investigation  of  the  dangling  legs, 
while  his  companion  gravely  contemplated  the  intruder, 
alternately  questioning  Trajan  with  her  large  yellow  eyes? 
and  curling  her  tail  in  no  end  of  remonstrances  at  such 
scandalous  innovation  upon  the  habits  of  a  respectable 
mother  of  numerous  well-reared  kittens. 

"Be  quiet,  you  pests,"  said  Trajan,  seating  himself  at  the 
table  and  tearing  open  the  wallet.  It  was  a  rich  piece  of 
leather  and  might  contain  money  ;  but  Trajan's  heart  sank 
as  he  opened  it,  for  nothing  but  a  thick  bundle  of  papers 
met  his  eye.  There  was  a  note — which  he  didn't  stop  to 
examine.  Unfolding  the  papers  Trajan's  heart  gave  a  great 
bound.  Bank  of  England  notes  !  One — two — he  grew  too 
dizzy  to  count.  There  were  a  half  dozen  at  least — all  of 
them,  to  the  young  man's  dismay,  of  large  denomination — 
^10,^20!  He  looked  them  over  feverishly.  Yes — there 
was  one  for  ^5.  That,  he  might  venture  to  use.  Without 
looking  at  the  note  or  the  other  papers  in  the  wallet,  he 


68  TRAJAN. 

closed  it,  put  it  in  a  drawer,  and  locking  it,  addressed  him 
self  to  the  child.  It  was  still  sleeping. 

"  Trip,  you  must  take  care  of  the  baby  while  I  go  for  the 
supper,  and,  Madame  Betty,  you  must  take  care  that  you  do 
not  practice  with  your  claws  on  the  visitor.  Trip,  you  shall 
have  some  meat,  and,  Betty,  you  shall  have  the  feast  that 
pampered  cats  love." 

Trip  wagged  his  tail  in  ecstatic  assent  and  Betty  brushed 
herself  in  the  most  ridiculous,  wheedling  way  against 
Trajan's  legs,  with  an  intention,  as  the  dog  evidently  thought, 
of  tripping  his  master,  for  he  deliberately  backed  into 
madame's  face,  pretending  that  Trajan's  hands  needed  kiss 
ing.  Thereupon  madame  retired  with  stately  dignity  toward 
the  rug,  purring  in  violent  agitation.  Trajan  closed  the 
door  softly  behind  him,  and  the  three  friends  were  left  alone. 
Trip  returned  gravely  to  the  sofa  where  the  child  slept — its 
breathing  broken  by  short  sobs.  The  dog  put  its  paws  upon 
the  body,  then  climbed  up  examining  the  garments  interro 
gatively.  Madame,  thinking  better  of  her  discomfitture, 
came  over  likewise,  and  the  two  held  solemn  council  over 
the  new  comer.  Trip  having  pushed  his  black  nose  into 
baby's  face,  looked  up  and  announced  that  it  was  a  harmless 
sort  of  an  intruder,  and  perhaps  might  be  an  acquisition  if 
taken  in  hand.  Madame,  as  befits  the  more  cautious  nature 
of  her  race,  began  at  the  feet,  carefully  abstaining  from 
coming  in  contact  with  such  squalor.  To  the  evident  invita 
tions  of  Trip  to  lay  her  nose  against  baby's  face,  she  returned 
a  decided  negative.  If  the  master  chose  to  indulge  such 
caprices,  she  knew  her  place  too  well  to  make  a  scene.  But 
she  washed  her  hands  of  the  interloper.  Very  well,  wagged 
Trip,  you  haven't  much  humanity.  I  will  lie  down  here,  so 
that  when  master  comes  he  will  see  that  I  have  done  my 
best  to  make  things  agreeable  for  his  prottfge.  So  Madame 
Betty  resumed  her  place  on  the  rug,  this  time  not  so  self- 
possessed,  and  evidently  divided  in  her  mind  as  to  her  duty. 
She  sat  on  her  haunches  affecting  perfect  unconcern.  But 


TRAJA  N  RENE  WS  HIS  YO  U  TH.  6  9 

Trip,  from  the  corner  of  his  eye,  his  cold  nose  resting  on 
baby's  neck,  could  see  that  his  old  friend  was  not  so  well 
satisfied  with  herself  as  usual. 

The  room  was  Trajan's  atelier.  Lighted  by  three  dormer- 
windows,  the  chamber  covered  the  whole  top  floor.  At  one 
side  a  high-canopied  bed  could  be  seen  through  the  half- 
drawn  curtains  that  cut  the  apartment  in  two.  The  walls 
were  covered  with  oblong  patches  of  tapestry,  armor,  engrav 
ings,  drawings,  medallions,  bronze  grotesques,  busts  of 
famous  statuary,  portraits,  Tuscan  vases,  Pompeian  frag 
ments,  and  the  host  of  odds-and-ends  that  a  painter  picks 
up  in  the  old  world  for  "  a  song." 

On  a  high  upright  easel  between  the  two  windows,  where 
the  joint  of  the.  roof  came  down,  a  large  canvas,  partly  in 
oil,  told  the  work  Trajan  had  been  at  last.  The  apartment, 
though  large,  was  made  to  look  homelike  by  the  sloping 
roof,  which,  near  the  window,  came  within  four  feet  of  the 
lower  sill.  The  vast  floor  wras  liberally  patched  with  rich 
but  well-worn  rugs  of  wonderful  beauty  of  color  and  design. 
Every  thing  in  the  room  was  an  implement  of  the  owner's 
art — down  to  his  two  friends,  Master  Trip  and  Madame 
Betty.  The  ears  of  these  two  attending  sprites  detected 
Trajan's  step  long  before  he  had  gained  the  last  flight  of 
stairs.  When  he  opened  the  door  they  were  both  at  his  feet 
— madame  forgetting  the  duties  imposed  by  her  age  and 
dignity,  and  Trip  impatient  to  test  the  quality  of  the  promised 
feast.  Both  were  soon  gratified  by  the  amplest  portions  of 
such  meat  as  Paris  butchers  reserve  for  their  animal  clients 
— madame  decorously  finishing  her  repast  with  a  saucer  of 
milk,  a  rare  delicacy  that  she  thought  highly  appropriate  in 
such  a  crisis  of  self-denial  as  she  had  been  called  upon  to 
undergo.  The  child  still  slept  restlessly.  Trajan  left  it 
undisturbed,  until  having  heated  some  bouillon  by  his  spirit 
lamp,  a  smoking  bowl  stood  ready. 

"  Now,  my  little  man  " — said  he,  taking  the  boy  tenderly 
in  his  arms — "it  won't  do  to  go  to  bed  on  an  empty 


70  TRAJAN. 

stomach."  The  kind  tone  and  the  savory  odor  of  the  soup 
brought  the  little  fellow  wide  awake  promptly.  A  child  is 
the  only  real  philosopher.  To  him  there  are  no  unities  of 
time,  place  or  circumstance.  He  is  hungry.  What  more 
natural  than  to  eat.  Blessed  confidence  of  childhood — 
religion  itself  has  no  profounder  lesson — no  more  eloquent 
attestation  of  a  first  cause.  How  thin  the  fabric  of  our 
sophistries  ;  how  attenuated  the  maxims  of  the  wise,  before 
that  innocent  trust,  that  divine  assurance  !  Trajan's  -heart 
swelled  as  he  thought  of  the  contrast  between  him,  confident 
in  his  intellect,  able  to  reason,  and  yet  less  rational  than  this 
artless  philosopher  ! 

"  What's  your  name,  my  child  ? "  said  Trajan,  as  the  boy, 
with  great  satisfaction,  drank  the  bouillon.  . 

"  Amedee,"  with  a  gulp  of  ineffable  contentment. 

"  Well,  Amedee,  you  must  hold  the  dish  while  I  prepare 
the  second  course.  You  may  si!  here  on  the  floor,  and  Trip 
will  keep  an  eye  on  you  ; — you  are  not  afraid  of  the  dog  ? " 

Amedee  eyed  the  dog — intermitting  the  soup  for  an 
instant,  and  then  shook  his  head.  Trip  considering  this  a 
formal  introduction,  came  forward  with  a  cordial  \vaggingof 
the  tail,  expressive  of  a  willingness  to  share  the  soup  or  any 
thing  else  that  might  befall  in  the  way  of  eating.  Madame, 
too,  having  left  the  saucer  in  a  shining  state  of  emptiness, 
came  up  to  the  new-comer,  picking  her  way  daintily  as 
though  to  say — "  It  behooves  one  to  be  sociable  in  one's 
own  home."  She  established  herself  on  her  haunches 
before  the  child,  blinking  amicably.  Amedee's  interest  in 
the  soup  gave  way  to  his  delight  in  the  new-comer.  He  had 
•evidently  never  seen  such  a  cat  in  his  small  life.  His  eyes 
grew  almost  as  large  as  the  saucer  in  the  corner  when  Betty 
had  finished  her  dessert.  In  ungovernable  astonishment  he 
exclaimed  : 

"  But  it  is  not  a  cat !  " 

Betty,  conscious  that  in  her  quality  of  feline  Jumbo  she 
was  entitled  to  more  consideration  than  this  slur  upon  her 


TRAJA  N  RENE  IV  S  HIS  YO  U  TH.  7 1 

genus  implied,  moved  with  impressive  dignity  to  the  bright 
est  spot  of  color  on  the  rug,  where,  seated  upon  her  haunches, 
she  proceeded  to  wash  her  face  with  large,  fluffy  paws,  cast 
ing  at  intervals  glances  of  freezing  indifference  and  disdain 
upon  the  occupant  of  her  favorite  corner  on  the  sofa.  This 
unpremeditated  toilet  was,  however,  rather  inconsequently 
suspended  as  the  savor  of  the  sliced  potatoes  preparing  over 
Trajan's  stove  reached  her.  She  compromised  her  disdain 
by  abstracted  purrs  as  she  rubbed  her  head  upon  Trajan's 
legs,  occasionally  rearing  her  stout  proportions  to  a  slanting 
posture  as  the  broiling  cutlets  emitted  little  appetizing  puffs 
of  inviting  odor. 

"Yes,  little  boy,"  said  Trajan,  addressing  the  puzzled 
skeptic  on  the  sofa,  "  it  is  Madame  Elizabeth  Gray — we  call 
her  Betty  for  short — Trip  and  I — This,"  he  added,  dropping 
a  morsel  of  the  cutlet  into  Trip's  dextrous  jaws,  "  is  Mon 
sieur  Trip — a  very  gentlemanly  dog.  He  never  worries 
good  little  boys  who  don't  worry  him  ;  eh,  Trip  ? " 

Betty  and  Trip  each  gave  response  in  the  tokens  of  their 
various  races.  Trip  turned  his  head  sidewise,  keeping  an 
eye  on  the  sizzling  cutlets  ;  while  Betty  excelled  herself  in 
an  arch  of  such  prodigious  proportions  that  Boy  on  the  sofa 
screamed  with  delight.  Then,  as  though  this  were  not  suffi 
ciently  expressive,  Trip  broke  into  a  rondo  of  short  staccato 
yelps,  expressive  of  enthusiastic  corroboration,  while  Betty's 
dislocated  back  seemed  a  species  of  buzz-saw  emitting  a 
perfect  frenzied  salvo  of  purrs. 

Understand  ?  I  haven't  the  slightest  doubt  the  honest 
pair  comprehended  every  word  of  the  kind  fellow  who  had 
been  their  friend  ;  who  had  rescued  them  in  the  lowest 
estate  known  severally  to  cat-kind  and  dog-kind.  After  all, 
I'm  convinced  that  it  is  only  man — the  human-kind — that 
can  hear  and  not  understand  heartiness  !  He  alone  can 
mock  and  repay  with  ingratitude,  benefaction  and  love,  and 
the  unspeakable  goodness  that  is  as  natural  to  the  kind 
heart  as  rich  crops  to  a  fertile  soil.  Goodness  is  the  first 


72  TRAJAN. 

impulse  of  every  man  in  normal  health — untroubled 
digestion  ;  and  an  animal  has  the  same  unchanging 
fidelity  in  kindly  impulses  that  we  infer  from  a  laugh. 
Whatever  other  sign  a  man  may  adopt  to  deceive,  a  laugh 
is  always  an  honest  expression.  It  tells  the  state  of  his 
stomach. 

Don't  disdain  this  homely  wisdom,  for  upon  the  stomach 
depends  much  of  the  deeds  and  emprise  of  life.  A  disor 
dered  stomach — isn't  it  historical  ? — brought  about  Napo 
leon's  discomfiture  at  Leipsic  !  If  Cassius  hadn't  been  lean 
and  hungry  he  would  never  have  sent  his  battalions  off  for 
food  when  young  Caesar  was  moving  in  force  upon  him  at 
Philippi  !  An  odd  jumble  of  illustrations  to  point  the  moral 
of  man's  inequality — cats,  dogs  and  laughter  !  Why  not  ? 
There  isn't  a  more  agreeable  character  in  Milton  than  Laugh 
ter,  the  Jolly  Witch  holding  both  her  sides.  If  the  woods 
have  voices,  and  there  be  texts  for  sermons  in  stones,  why 
may  not  the  verities  of  life  be  learned  in  the  eloquent 
honesty  of  brutes  ?  We  can  sometimes  pardon  friends  who 
bore  or  weary  us,  but  we  can  never  forgive  those  whom  we 
bore  or  annoy  !  Now,  the  animal  who  is  really  our  friend, 
is  never  bored  or  wearied  by  us,  and  he  never  bores  or 
wearies  us.  Therefore,  in  every  sense,  a  congenial  dog  is  a 
truer  and  more  trustworthy  friend  than  the  frail  mortal  who 
reminds  us  of  a  repetition  of  our  old  jokes,  or  asks  us  to 
pay  tribute  to  his  own  thrice-told  tales  of  mirth.  Trajan 
had  confirmed  himself  in  this  creed,  and  I  am  but  antici 
pating  his  own  expression  of  it,  for  he  was  fond  of  setting  it 
forth  to  his  friends.  He  was  fond  of  saying  that  Bet  and 
Trip  were  the  only  comrades  whom  he  ventured  to  talk  to 
about  himself — remembering  that  the  reserve  that  men  have 
of  talking  about  themselves  to  others,  is  not  delicacy  nor  the 
apprehension  of  what  others  may  think,  but  the  fear  of  lay 
ing  one's  inmost  soul  open  to  the  gaze  of  the  world,  for  a 
friend  is  after  all  a  gossip  who  reveals  either  too  much  or  too 
little  ;  pride  in  his  friend  suggests  a  caution  which  is  fatal 


TRAJAN  RENEWS  HIS  YOUTH.  73 

to  that  succinct  continuity,  which  alone  makes  self-confes 
sion  plausible  or  tolerable. 

Trajan,  you  observe,  was  fond  of  paradoxes.  He  held 
that  man,  like  the  animal,  started  out  with  good  instincts 
uppermost,  and  that,  however  fallen,  there  was  an  appetent 
root  of  congeniality  somewhere  ;  that,  no  matter  how  hard 
ened  or  abandoned,  there  was  no  heart  that  a  prayer,  a  tear, 
an  amiable  weakness,  a  kindly  folly,  would  not  vanquish  in 
some  sort.  He  had  summered  and  wintered  with  his  two  little 
friends,  and  he  believed  that  they  knew  his  sorrows  and 
compassionated  them  in  their  mute  way.  They  whisked 
and  gamboled  about  in  his  joy  with  motions  as  eloquent  and 
soothing  as  the  most  perfect  songs  without  words.  When 
his  heart  was  light,  they  knew  it  by  his  step,  and  when  it 
was  sad  they  knew  it  by  his  very  glance. 

Amedee  meanwhile  had  satisfied  his  hunger,  and  his 
bright  eyes  grew  heavy.  Trajan  straightway  stripped  the 
poor  little  body  of  its  clothes,  and  wrapping  the  child  in 
one  of  his  own  garments  laid  him  in  the  bed — fast  asleep. 
Then  he  addressed  himself  to  the  mysterious  wallet.  There 
were  £200  in  Bank  of  England  notes,  and  a  letter — with 
no  address — carefully  sealed.  The  mystery  of  the  affair 
was  evidently  in  the  note.  Trajan  felt  that  he  had  no  right 
to  open  it  until  he  had  exhausted  every  other  means  of 
finding  the  owner.  But  how  was  that  owner  to  be  found? 
Through  the  police  ?  Was  there  an  official  credulous  enough 
in  all  Paris  to  accept  the  young  man's  story  ?  Found  on  a 
lilac  bush  in  the  Luxembourg  gardens  !  Trajan  foresaw 
that  with  the  summary  methods  of  the  French  prefecture 
he  would  be  arrested  and  held  until  every  crime  in  Paris  had 
been  sifted  and  its  bearings  on  the  wallet  traced.  Then, 
too,  the  abstraction  of  the  ^5  would  be  held  as  an  irregu 
larity,  serious  enough  to  warrant  exemplary  punishment,  for 
treasure-trove  has  a  recognized  and  enforced  procedure  with 
French  magistrates. 

After  weighing  over  the  matter  the  young  man  could  think 


74  TRAJAN. 

of  nothing  better  than  inserting  an  advertisement  in 
Figaro,  the  general  phalanstery  of  the  lost,  found,  strayed 
and  stolen  of  Paris.  He  raised  his  eyes  to  the  mantel  as 
he  came  to  this  conclusion  and  started  guiltily.  He  saw 
a  reminder  of  the  painful  struggle  he  had  gone  through  on 
quitting  this  pleasant  refuge  in  the  morning.  Getting  up  he 
took  from  the  base  of  the  crystal-covered  clock  a  note.  It 
was  addressed  in  a  bold,  round  hand  :  "  Madame  Agay, 
concierge,  29  Rue  du  Dragon."  He  took  it  to  the  lamp  and 
reached  out  his  hand  to  hold  it  over  the  flame,'  then  drew  it 
back,  tore  off  the  envelope  and  without  looking  at  the 
inclosure,  went  to  his  writing-table,  took  another  envelope, 
put  the  note  in  it,  sealed  it  and  wrote  in  an  agitated  hand 
singularly  unlike  the  first  superscription  in  symmetry  and 
repose,  "  A  lesson  in  life,"  then  thrusting  it  hastily  into  a 
little  drawer,  got  up  and  paced  the  apartment ! 

I  have  often  heard  Trajan's  friend  Elliot  tell  the  story. 
The  letter  had  been  written  to  'the  mistress  of  the  house, 
giving  her  possession  of  every  thing  the  poor  lad  possessed 
as  a  legacy,  upon  which  he  made  the  charge  of  the  keeping 
of  his  two  friends  the  dog  and  cat.  They  were  to  be  nur 
tured  as  he  had  nurtured  them,  and  when  dead  decently 
buried  as  is  the  Christian  fashion  throughout  the  pleasant 
land  of  France.  This  legacy,  the  young  man  wrote,  he  felt 
happy  to  entrust  to  Madame  Agay,  for  she  was  fond  of  his 
two  proteges,  and  he  knew  that  she  would  be  the  more  ten 
der  to  them  for  his  sake,  as  she  had  always  been  his  good 
friend.  Elliot  often  speculated  as  to  the  animals  and  how 
much  they  understood  of  the  droll  will,  and  how  near  they 
came  to  losing  their  kind  patron.  I  doubt  if  in  all  the 
sacred  closets  of  Catholic  Paris  there  was  a  soul  more 
humble  than  Trajan's,  as,  after  hours  of  thinking — the  cat 
sleeping  peacefully  on  the  rug  at  his  feet  and  Trip  renew 
ing  the  feast  of  the  evening  in  his  dreams — the  young 
man  laid  himself  down  beside  the  rescued  waif  in  the 
high-canopied  bed,  as  the  bells  of  St.  Sulpice  yonder 
clanged  out  the  hour  of  midnight. 


THE  HOUSE  OF  ARDEN.  75 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    HOUSE    OF    ARDEN. 

TRAJAN,  as  you  see,  has  nothing  of  the  heroic  to  justify 
his  historian  in  presenting  him  as  a  personage.  He  is 
shown  to  have  lost  heart  ignominiously  at  the  very  time  men 
of  the  true  fiber  come  out  strong.  He  gave  up  the  combat 
and  was  willing  to  put  upon  men  of  better  approved  con 
stancy  the  burden  of  carrying  his  wounded  body  from  the 
field.  All  that  he  was,  and  all  that  his  parts  fitted  him  for, 
we  have  not  yet  seen.  Fortunately  for  Trajan  the  suicidal 
madness  was  known  only  to  Elliot.  To  the  healthful  mind, 
to  have  resolved  on  the  taking  of  one's  own  life  is  but  in 
some  degree  less  guilty  than  the  taking  of  one's  neighbor's. 
It  is  only  the  sorrows  of  Werther  or  the  woes  of  the  person 
ages  of  romance  that  are  held  excuse  for  the  "  bare  bodkin  " 
by  comfortable  human  nature.  On  the  stage  we  adore 
Hamlet,  in  romance  we  weep  for  Werther,  but  in  real  life  to 
touch  the  scale  that  measures  the  unknown  balance  betwixt 
the  evils  we  know  and  those  we  know  not,  is  to  make  sorrow 
a  symbol  for  the  world  to  jeer  and  condemn.  If  death  were 
an  expiation,  its  taking  off  would  be  heroism  and  the  rash 
zealot  entering,  even  in  thought,  the  portal  of  this  holy  of 
holies,  a  consecrated  agent  rather  than  a  moral  specter,  reek 
ing  with  profanation.  Trajan  had  sacrilegiously  riven  the 
veil  and  turned  from  the  immortal  mystery,  not  through 
repentance,  not  through  sudden  realization  of  his  desecra 
tion,  but  by  a  whimsical  impulse  !  Unless  desperate  through 
guilt,  swirled  into  crime,  or  irredeemably  skeptical,  how 
could  he,  a  healthful  lad  of  twenty-five,  deliberately  take 
upon  himself  to  anticipate  the  design  of  providence  ?  How 
quit  such  an  atmosphere  of  intellectual  expansion  and 
social  seduction  as  Paris  under  the  Empire  ?  I  am  conscious 
of  the  absurdities  in  all  that  he  has  done  and  the  puling 
sentimentality  of  his  sudden  infatuation  for  the  too-confid- 


76  TRAJAN. 

ing  Elliot.  Plainly  there  isn't  much  of  the  manly  stuff  in  a 
young  fellow  who  maunders  over  a  rebuff  in  love — when  he 
has,  to  offset  the  blow,  youth,  good  looks,  intellect  and  the 
prodigious  possibilities  of  recuperation,  presented  in  such  a 
society  as  that  of  Paris,  at  the  apogee  of  the  Empire  !  As 
you  have,  no  doubt,  already  pronounced,  the  sentiment  is 
unwholesome,  the  moral  pernicious,  to  men  and  women  with 
the  sober  realities  of  life  pressing  upon  them  for  action  and 
solution.  The  morbid  freaks  of  diseased  minds  are  not 
themes  that  make  fiction  entrancing. 

'Twere  better  and  gayer  and  finer,  I  own,  to  present  this 
young  man  as  a  conquering,  heroic  personage,  from  the 
moment  we  discovered  him  on  the  bridge,  startling  the 
lovely  Empress  by  his  lurid  glance  :  to  evoke  thrills  of 
rapture  by  plunging  him  into  the  Seine  in  pursuit  of  some 
struggling  unfortunate,  or  still  more  thrilling  by  an  intrepid 
dash  rescuing  imperiled  royalty  from  a  blood-curdling 
attempt  at  assassination.  All  these  might  have  been  set 
before  you  very  readily,  for  in  those  days  the  avengers  of 
manacled  liberty  were  agog  in  the  streets,  and  the  placid 
waters  of  the  Seine  were  often  ruffled  by  the  desperate  and 
forlorn  !  But  the  men  and  women  of  the  novel  are  no  more 
puppets  than  the  flesh  and  blood  that  walk  the  streets,  that 
toil  and  triumph  or  yield  to  the  hard  conditions  that  environ 
them  !  When  the  consul  Caius  Julius  halted  at  the  turbid 
Rubicon,  the  conquest  of  half  the  world  behind  him,  the 
mastery  of  the  whole  world,  in  the  resolution  that  wavered 
in  him,  death  by  his  own  hand  was  for  a  moment  the 
thought  dividing  that  masterful  mind  ;  when  the  great 
Frederic  had  stolen  his  beggarly  Prussian  heritage  into  the 
ranks  of  the  great  kingdoms,  his  mind  was  divided  between 
prussic  acid  and  the  poetical  epistle  to  Voltaire  announcing 
his  taking  off !  Indeed  surcease  of  this  sort,  we  see  in  the 
lives  of  the  greatest,  comes  as  a  boon,  in  the  very  threshold 
of  deeds  of  pith  and  moment.  As  you  have  seen,  Trajan 
Gray's  past  was  marked  by  a  good  deal  out  of  the  common 


THE  HOUSE  OF  ARDEN.  77 

fate  that  befalls  men  of  intellect  and  high  resolves.  We 
shall  see  that  it  was  no  trivial  grief  that  brought  him  to 
the  despairing  pitch  in  which  Elliot  found  him — for  if  the 
heart  may  break,  why  not  the  brain  ? 

It  was  nearly  noon  the  day  after  the  meeting  with  Trajan. 
Elliot  after  a  diplomatic  conference  with  Edith,  in  which  he 
dwelt  with  much  fraternal  unction  upon  his  devoirs  toward 
\\\Q  protege  he  was  about  to  bring  to  the  noonday  breakfast, 
set  out  for  Trajan's  studio  not  a  little  curious  to  learn  the 
young  man's  frame  of  mind.  He  called  a  cab  and  was 
driven  along  the  banks  of  the  Seine  to  the  Pont  Royale, 
the  bridge  leading  from  the  noble  paved  square  of  the 
Place  de  la  Concorde  to  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain,  and 
after  a  ten  minutes'  drive,  saw  the  No.  29  in  the  Rue 
Dragon. 

He  was  at  once  enabled  to  estimate  his  protege 's  standing 
in  that  archaic  abode  by  the  alacrity  with  which  Madame 
volunteered  her  politest  affirmative  that  "  Monsieur  Trage  was 
chez  tut"  with  the  additional  information  that  his  appartement 
was  au  cinquieme.  The  winding  stairs  were  dark  and  cramped 
— much  like  the  ascent  to  a  tower — but  when  the  narrow 
slits  that  served  rather  to  mark  the  absence  of  windows,  than 
answer  to  them,  admitted  a  thin  tongue  of  light,  Elliot  re 
marked  that  the  well-worn  planks  glistened  in  cleanly  order  ; 
that  the  warped  balustrade  shone  with  constant  polishing, 
and  though  his  elbows  and  shoulders  served  to  keep  him  in 
the  narrow  spiral,  not  a  particle  of  dust  had  soiled  his  dark 
clothes.  He  had  to  pause  for  breath  at  the  last  stair  ;  for, 
though  Trajan's  apartment  was  called  the  fifth,  it  really  took 
six  flights  of  long  stairs  to  reach  the  floor.  Through  the 
wider  dormer  window  on  the  landing  the  roofs  and  courts  of 
the  whole  square  could  be  seen.  Elliot  had  not  noticed 
before  the  air  of  age  that  marked  the  building.  The  tiles  in 
the  roof  were  covered  with  moss,  and  noisy  broods  of  turtle 
doves  were  strutting  and  pluming  themselves  along  the  peaks 
and  the  rims  of  the  eaves.  In  the  distance  the  green  panorama 


78  TRAJAN. 

of  Meudon  and  Mont  Valerien  and  the  low  hills  of  St.  Cloud 
shut  in  the  horizon. 

In  answer  to  Elliot's  low  knock  there  was  a  sharp  bark, 
and  in  a  moment  Trajan  stood  in  the  doorway.  Elliot  gave 
his  hand  frankly  and  the  other  pressed  it  with  warmth,  mak 
ing  place  for  the  visitor  on  a  great  arm-chair  near  the  easel. 

"  Trip,  you  scamp,  get  down." 

That  unceremonious  personage  having  at  once  accepted 
Elliot's  knee  as  an  eligible  point  of  vantage  to  study  his 
physiognomy.  Trip,  glancing  over  his  shoulder  and  signal 
ing  Betty  with  his  tail,  proceeded  to  plant  his  two  paws  full 
on  his  new  friend's  shirt  front,  and  making  advances  of  an 
osculatory  intent,  that  Elliot  evaded  only  by  an  uncomfort 
able  elasticity  of  back  and  neck.  Betty,  not  to  be  outdone 
in  cordiality,  rubbed  her  head  and  shoulders  with  friendly 
zeal  against  the  young  man's  ankles.  "  These  creatures  are 
ruined  as  to  behavior,"  Trajan  laughingly  explained,  "  yet 
they  don't  often  conduct  themselves  with  such  effusive 
warmth  to  strangers — " 

"  That  proves  that  I'm  a  kindred  spirit.  I'm  not  given  to 
cats,  but  I  have  known  a  good  many  dogs  that  I  am  proud 
to  call  my  friends,  so  don't  trouble  yourself  :  I  feel  rather 
flattered  at  the  mark  of  confidence,  for  a  dog,  like  a 
woman,  judges  by  instinct,  and,  of  course,  it  stimulates 
my  amour  propre  to  be  received  on  such  terms  on  my  first 
visit." 

Trip's  efforts  to  touch  Elliot's  cheek  were  finally  rewarded, 
as  this  proper  sentiment  was  uttered,  and  then,  with  an  air 
of  triumphant  satisfaction,  he  leaped  down  and  stood  at 
Trajan's  feet,  as  if  solicitous  to  learn  whether  there  were 
any  other  evidences  of  distinguished  consideration  he  could 
lavish  on  the  newcomer. 

"  There's  a  rat  under  the  bed,  I'm  perfectly  sure,  Trip, 
and  you  ought  to  show  Mr.  Arden  how  you  can  catch  it." 
Trip  regarded  the  mysterious  recesses  through  the  curtain, 
somewhat  incredulously.  He  cocked  his  head  first  on  one 


THE  HOUSE  OF  ARDEN  79 

side  then  on  the  other,  yelped  interrogatively  ;  then  making 
a  dive  for  Betty,  who  sat  sagaciously  blinking  at  Trajan, 
affected  to  be  on  the  point  of  mistaking  her  for  the  alleged 
rat  ;  then  thought  better  of  it,  and  skurrying  across  the 
room  halted  as  he  reached  the  curtains,  and  with  an  inde 
scribable  motion  of  head,  tail  and  shoulders,  signified  to 
Betty  that  it  was  her  duty  to  lend  her  fine  sense  of  smell  to 
the  important  quest.  But  Betty  turned  her  head  as  one 
who  should  say,  "  Silly  thing,  don't  you  know  that  any  rat 
with  an  ounce  of  sense  knows  enough  to  know  that  daylight 
isn't  a  time  to  seek  the  cheese  or  bread  box  ? " 

When  the  demonstration  of  the  animals  gave  an  oppor 
tunity,  Trajan  broke  into  an  expression  of  wonder  that 
Elliot  had  come.  He  had  made  up  his  mind  he  said, 
that  a  sober  after-thought  would  have  warned  him  of 
the  imprudence  of  pushing  the  acquaintance  further.  That 
the  world  would  rate  his  conduct  as  silly  or  sentimental,  and 
a  young  advocate  couldn't  afford  to  set  out  with  such  a 
reputation. 

Elliot,  whose  eyes  had  at  first  wandered  about  the  large 
chamber  in  almost  reverent  admiration,  as  the  exquisite 
artistic  effects  of  draping  revealed  themselves  in  the  unequal 
light,  turned  his  gaze  full  upon  the  speaker  as  the  sense  of 
what  he  at  first  took  for  raillery  became  clear  to  him.  He 
moved  with  impatience,  however,  toward  the  end — uneasy 
and  half  indignant.  For  a  moment  it  came  into  his  mind 
that  Trajan  had  lost  his  senses  ;  that  the  brooding  which 
had  driven  him  to  the  terrible  resolution  of  the  day  before 
had  affected  his  intellect.  For  Trajan  spoke  without  excite 
ment,  apparently  without  emotion,  rather  as  one  describing 
some  fantastic  episode  entirely  disassociated  from  himself. 
It  was  no  longer  the  Trajan  of  the  day  before — without  the 
previous  experience  of  him  Elliot  would  have  taken  him  as 
one  of  the  gayest  and  most  flippant  Bohemians  of  the  Cafe 
Procope.  Gay  self-assertion  delighting  in  paradox,  with  no 
more  serious  care  in  life  than  a  fragile  amour.  He  was  at 


8o  TRAJAN. 

a  loss  how  to  reply.  He  dreaded  bringing  the  young  man 
back  to  the  somber  melancholy  of  the  day  before.  He  was 
afraid  to  enter  into  explanation — for  Elliot,  though  young, 
knew  that  a  friendship  was  writ  in  vapor  that  begins  in 
assurances,  and  is  built  on  protestations.  He  felt  himself 
strongly  drawn  toward  Trajan.  He  felt  that  it  would  be 
easy  to  become  tenderly  attached  to  him.  Yet  his  nature 
shrunk  from  saying  or  showing  it  as  an  indelicacy.  The 
friendship  of  men  he  held  to  be  like  the  leaves  of  a  delicate 
plant — breathed  upon,  touched,  they  became  tarnished, 
faded,  and  odorless.  The  silence  lasted  for  some  minutes, 
and  Trajan,  surprised  that  his  volatile  banter  evoked  no 
response,  asked  : 

"  You  are  convinced  that  I  am  right  ? " 

"  I  am  convinced  that  you  are  singularly  wrong-headed 
this  morning,  and  by  no  means  the  clever  fellow  your  friend 
represented  you  to  be.  But  I  am  not  going  to  enter  the  lists 
to  fight  the  specter  you  have  conjured.  I  am  come  to  take 
you  to  breakfast,  and  when  you  have  shown  me  these 
wonders  of  yours  we  shall  barely  have  time  to  reach  the  Rue 
Francois  I." 

"  Then  you  still  persist  in  the  wild  project  of  engaging  me 
for  drawing-master  ?  " 

"  Unless  you  refuse  ;  but  I  hope  you  won't,  for  I  am 
counting  on  getting  no  end  of  benefit  from  you  during  the 
vacation.  We  are  going,  as  I  believe  I  told  you,  to  some 
quiet  retreat  near  Paris,  where  I  can  make  use  of  the  law 
library,  and  you  can  continue  your  painting,  if  you  are  so 
minded.  I  declare  I  feel  like  turning  painter  myself  in  such 
a  charming  old  place  as  this.  I  never  saw  a  more  perfect 
atelier  in  Rome,  where,  some  of  the  foreign  artists  have 
lavished  fortunes  in  bric-a-brac,  tapestries,  and  that  sort  of 
thing." 

While  speaking,  Elliot  had  got  up,  and  began  examining 
the  mural  decorations. 

"  Why,"  he  exclaimed,  taking  a  bronze  medallion  in  his 


THE  HOUSE  OF  ARDEN.  ST. 

hand,  "  there  is  enough  value  in  this  room  to  buy  a  farm. 
I—" 

He  paused  and  colored. 

Trajan,  standing  by  his  side,  his  hands  in  the  pockets  of 
his  short  jacket,  added  with  serenity  : 

"  You  can't  imagine  why  a  man  should  talk  of  starvation 
with  these  objects  of  value  in  his  possession?  It's  very 
simple.  In  the  first  place,  there  is  not  an  object  of  intrinsic 
value  in  the  whole  lot.  I  picked  them  up  in  out-of-the-way 
places,  and  the  sum  total  of  their  cost  was  not  $200.  If  I 
were  forced  to  sell  them  I  couldn't  get  a  third  of  that.  If 
I  were  forced  to  buy  them  I  should  have  to  pay  perhaps  ten 
times  that.  Take  those  medallions,  for  example.  They 
are  genuine  antiques.  I  gathered  them  in  out-of-the-way 
villages  from  Capri  to  Ferrara  on  a  walking  tour  the  second 
year  I  was  in  Europe.  These  tapestries  I  picked  up  in  Dal- 
matia  and  Venice.  The  carpet  rugs  I  got  in  Egypt  last 
year.  The  busts,  in  small  towns  in  Italy  where  toifrists 
never  penetrate.  I  paid  for  many  of  them  in  sketches  for 
altars  and  town  halls.  In  others  by  writing  letters  for  honest 
peasants.  The  fine  old  chests  you  see  yonder,  carved,  as 
wood  is  no  longer  carved,  I  got  for  working  as  a  field-hand 
in  Tuscany,  and  I  packed  most  of  my  treasures  in. them  for 
transportation  to  Paris.  This  writing-desk,  which  is  also  a 
sort  of  wardrobe,  I  got  in  Perugia,  from  a  charming  old 
priest,  for  furbishing  up  the  sacristy,  for  I  can  do  a  little 
carpentering.  As  to  selling  them,  the  very  thought  mad 
dened  me,  and,  beside,  they  were  intended  for  a  sacred 
purpose." 

Elliot  turned  his  face  to  the  window.  His  voice  trembled 
slightly  as  he  said  : 

"  You've  been  reading  Balzac  too  attentively  and  have 
fallen  into  the  unwholesome  spirit  of  the  French.  Real 
men  do  not  do  this  sort  of  thing  now  —  out  of 
novels.  A  week  from  now  you  will  look  back 
on  this  business  as  not  only  weakly  morbid,  but  un- 
6 


82  TRAJAN. 

manly  and  even  immoral.  For,  even  taking  life  at-your  own 
estimate,  it  ought  to  be  precious  to  you.  With  youth,  health 
and  gifts — there  is  nothing  a  man  of  talent  should  shrink 
from.  Insanity  alone  can  account  for  the  frame  of  mind  I 
found  you  in  yesterday,  and  I  mean  to  hold  the  event  over 
you  as  a  rod.  That  I  believe  is  the  function  of  a  friend,  to 
remind  one  of  his  frailties  and  encourage  his  foibles  ?  Noth 
ing  can  condone  such  folly  as  yours,  my  friend,  but  works. 
And  the  first  one  is  to  dress  yourself,  and  hasten,  too,  for 
my  mother  is  a  tyrant,  about  breakfast,  and  you  will  enter 
the  house  under  very  bad  omens  if  you  keep  that  important 
event  waiting." 

Trajan  excused  himself  to  dress  and  retired  to  the  alcove. 
Inside  the  curtain  he  kept  up  a  brisk  conversation  with  Trip, 
who  seemed  to  preside  over  his  master's  toilet,  for  he  referred 
questions  of  this  delicate  nature  to  his  superior  taste  : 

"  What  do  you  say  to  this  neck-tie,  Trip  ?  too  crumpled — 
I  thtnk  so  myself  ;  this  white  and  black  too  dismal — I  quite 
agree  with  you.  We'll  try  this  with  small  purple  dots  to 
match  with  light  waistcoat  and  trowsers  and  dark  coat.  As 
we  are  going  into  the  company  of  ladies  we  must  be  g£y — 
eh,  Trip  ?  How  about  the  shoes  ?  Have  you  seen  to  their 
cleaning  ?  You  are  growing  neglectful,  Trip.  How  can  a 
great  genius  be  expected  to  brush  his  own  shoes  !  "  In  a 
few  moments  he  reappeared,  the  neglige  jacket  of  the  artist 
replaced  by  the  garments  he  had  enumerated  to  his  canine 
confidant.  As  he  came  forward  he  was  metamorphosed  in 
every  way.  His  hair  still  retained  the  careless  air  befitting 
the  artist,  though  it  was  not  the  incongruous  curtain  reach 
ing  the  collar  by  which  the  artist  race  signalizes  its  metier. 

u  Well,  Madame  Betty,  do  you  approve  ?  " 

Madame  Betty  had  been  contemplating  Elliot  as  he  moved 
from  one  object  to  another,  opening  books  and  turning  over 
the  drawings.  She  yawned  amicably  as  Trajan  came  from 
the  curtained  alcove  fastening  a  cuff-button,  and  scrutinized 
the  ensemble  with  deliberate  gravity;  then  in  testimony  of 


THE  HOUSE  OF  ARDEN.  83 

unreserved  approbation,  upreared  her  fluffy  back  into  a  per 
fect  parabola,  rubbing  her  head  and  shoulders  with  a  joyful, 
bounding  motion  against  her  master's  trowsers. 

"  Madame  Betty's  approval  gained,  I  think  I  may  venture 
the  scrutiny  of  your  family  council,"  said  Trajan,  gayly. 

Elliot,  bending  to  fondle  Trip's  expressive  ears,  murmured 
without  looking  up,  rather  in  continuance  of  some  previous 
remark,  than  in  response  :  "  Yes,  one  may  trust  friends  like 
these — they,  at  least,  have  no  motive  to  deceive." 

"  I  don't  know  about  that ;  Madame  Agay  declares  that 
Betty  maintains  a  surreptitious  supervision  of  the  larder, 
which  is  not  without  its  influence  on  the  cost  of  living,  and 
that  though  Trip  takes  no  part  in  the  forays,  he  reconciles 
it  with  his  conscience  to  share  the  spoil  !  "  During  the  drive 
to  the  Rue  Frangois  I.  the  friends  were  strangely  silent. 
Trajan  was  thinking  of  the  transformation  twenty-four  hours 
had  wrought  in  his  life  and  purposes,  and  Elliot  was  wonder 
ing  whether  Bella  would  repel  his  friend  by  some  inex 
plicable  caprice. 

The  friends  had  reached  the  Rue  Franfois  I.,  and 
Trajan's  mind  had  slowly  retraced  the  events  of  the  last 
twenty-four  hours.  He  had  not,  until  he  found  himself 
seated  in  the  Victoria  beside  Elliot,  reflected  on  the  casual 
covenant  of  the  night  before.  His  mind  had  been  on  a 
strain  so  tense  that  when  the  relief  came  in  solicitude  for 
Amedee,  he  had  wholly  forgotten  the  proposal  of  Elliot  in 
the  Luxembourg  garden  and  his  own  assent.  Had  he  con 
sidered  it  a  moment,  he  would  have  shown  his  friend  that 
there  was  no  need  for  his  turning  tutor  to  gain  a  livelihood. 
With  the  changed  conditions  and  the  new  impulse  given  him 
by  the  events  of  the  day,  he  felt  equal  to  the  slow  work  of 
painting  and  the  small  rewards  it  brings  in  Paris.  He  had 
concurred  in  Elliot's  suggestion,  because  it  promised  to  take 
him  into  a  new  atmosphere,  to  give  him  a  chance  to  know  and 
be  known  by  his  new  friend — to  remove  him  from  the  old  life, 
which  had  proven  insupportable.  But  now  he  had  new 


84  TRAJAN, 

interests.  He  must  prove  to  Elliot  that  he  was  worthy  the 
impulsive  confidence  he  had  given  him.  He  had  assented  to 
the  proposed  tutorship  in  the  glow  of  an  almost  passionate 
adoration  for  the  kind  young  fellow  who  had  come  between 
him  and  his  madness.  An  inexpugnable  compunction  held 
him  back  from  exposing  his  bruised  spirit  and  passing  par 
alysis  even  to  Elliot.  He  had  shrunk  from  the  sight  of  those 
he  knew  familiarly,  for  he  knew  the  estimate  put  upon  him. 

He  was  conscious  that  he  was  not  taken  at  his  worth,  and 
he  resented  the  careless  judgment  of  his  neighbors  and  com 
rades,  as  the  actor  who  is  cast  for  comedy  resents  the  denial 
of  his  equal  fitness  for  tragedy  !  He  had  pursued  his  career 
with  a  set  purpose  to  conquer  the  world  in  his  own  way. 
Alas — like  all  of  us  when  we  are  young — because  he  felt 
his  own  way  to  be  the  best  suited  to  his  powers  and  tempera 
ment.  When  the  collapse  came  he  dreaded  the  gibes  this 
tacit  acknowledgment  of  his  error  would  draw  upon  him  from 
sympathizing  friends  !  He  elected  rather  to  dropout  of  the 
contest  than  face  the  Philistine  chorus. — "  I  told  you  so  !  " 
He  was  at  the  time  of  life  when  ardent  natures  who  ponder 
deeply  on  the  world  and  its  ways  regard  the  accidental  as 
immemorially  preordained,  the  trivial  as  vital — a  time  when 
the  pendulum  of  resolution  swings  the  whole  circuit  without 
producing  any  analogous  action  on  the  dial  of  the  mind. 
He  felt  bitterly,  that  had  he  lived  a  career  of  profligacy  or 
improvidence  he  would  have  escaped  the  esoteric  judgment 
of  his  fellows  and  found  more  cordial  countenance.  Living 
in  books  and  his  art,  and  the  sort  of  introspection  such  a  life 
implies,  he  was  no  more  fitted  to  assert  himself  than  the 
white  blackbird  in  the  fable,  when  it  fell  among  its  sable 
kind  and  was  reviled  because  its  plumage  was  white  !  When 
the. Victoria  stopped  and  the  young  men  Avere  passing  into 
the  Arden  doorway,  Trajan  laid  his  hand  on  Elliot's  arm 
and  said  with  painful  constraint  : 

"  Forgive  me — but  I  think  I  am  venturing  more  than 
I  can  carry  out.  I — I — haven't  the  qualities  that  would 


THE  HOUSE  OF  ARDEtf.  85 

make  even  a  tolerable  instructor.  To  be  of  service  to  your 
kinswoman,  I  should  require  patience,  adaptability — 
which  at  best  I  do  not  possess.  Furthermore,"  he 
added,  blushing  crimson — "  is  it  wise,  is  it  prudent,  in 
you  to  bring  an  entire  stranger  into  relations  involv 
ing  something  of  intimacy — into  your  family  ?  You  know 
nothing  of  me — or  but  little,  and  that  not  likely  to  commend 
me  to  your  kinswoman  for  the  work  she  wants.  No — no — 
let  us  dismiss  this  project.  You  will  know  me  better  by  and 
by.  I  shall  be  able  to  resume  work  now  and  make  up  for 
lost  time  and  then  you  can  present  me  to  your  family  as  a 
man  who  has  achieved  something.  Let  us  stop  before  this 
becomes  a  mortification  and  embarrassment  to  both  of  us — 

"  I  don't  comprehend  you  at  all  " — said  Elliot,  who  had 
been  listening  restively,  in  a  tone  almost  irritable.  "You  are 
as  absurd  to-day  as  you  were  mad  yesterday.  It  is  associa 
tion  with  folks  of  a  different  sort  from  the  Quarter  fellows 
you  need.  Meet  my  mother.  Ah,  Gray — when  you  know  her, 
my  cousin,  my  sister — Kate  McNair — then  you  -will  see  life 
in  its  true  horizon.  I  believe  I  should  go  mad  if  I  didn't  have 
my  mother  and  sister  to  counteract  the  cynicism  of  the 
'  Quarter '  spirit.  Trust  me,  I  know  what  is  best  for  you 
just  now — beside,"  he  added,  coloring  charmingly — an  adora 
ble  trick  this  kind  lad  had,  "I  am  the  head  of  the  Arden 
family  and  what  I  command  all  its  members  affirm — just 
wait  until  you  see  my  patriarchal  sway  " — he  added  laugh 
ingly,  "  and  you  will  have  no  distrust." 

"  Ah,  I  have  no  distrust  of  you — you  are — " 
"  Never  mind  me — what  you  need,"  continued  this  youth 
ful  mentor  in  a  convinced  tone,  "  what  you  need  is  the 
influence  of  good  women."  Trajan  winced  and  shivered 
perceptibly.  "  I  don't  mean  that  you  have  to  do  with  any 
other — what  I  mean  is  that  you  need  the  friendly  interest  of 
such — the  atmosphere  that  good  women  throw  about  all  who 
come  near  them — even  the  least  intellectual.  It  is  better 
for  a  man,  I  believe,  than  this  perpetual  seclusion  among 


86  TRAJAN. 

books,  paintings,  or  the  shadowy  idealism  of  art.  A  month 
in  the  region  of  the  gentler  humanities,  that  women  alone 
realize,  will  restore  you  to  mental  balance,  which,  I  am  forced 
to  say,  you  do  not  possess  at  this  moment.  Say  no  more," 
he  added,  seizing  Trajan's  arm.  "  I'm  a  very  domineering 
fellow,  and  when  I  take  a  thing  in  hand  it  goes  through. — 

"The  truth  is,  Gray," — he  added,  solemnly, — "you  ought 
to  fall  in  love.  That  keeps  a  fellow  in  mental  and  moral 
equilibrium.  There's  nothing  in  books,  art,  bench,  bar,  or 
what  men  strive  for  like  the  glorious  abandonment  of  love. — 
Ah — pardon  my  folly  ! — Have  I  pained  you  ?  I — I  didn't 
dream — "  Then,  as  Trajan,  with  a  pleading  gesture  and 
ghastly  face,  turned  from  him,  he  cried,  "  forgive  me,  I 
didn't  realize  I  was  paining  you — I  never  imagined — I 
understand  all  now,"  and  he  pressed  Trajan's  hand,  who 
still  stood  with  averted  face. 

"  There's  nothing  to  forgive.  You  touched  a  fresh  wound. 
Let  us  dismiss  the  subject.  I  will  be  guided  by  you.  I  shall 
enjoy  the  sense  of  irresponsibility  in  acting  as  you  dictate." 

The  young  men  found  Mrs.  Arden  and  Edith  in  the 
drawing-room.  Mrs.  Arden  gave  the  guest  her  hand  with 
cordial  welcome,  while  Edith's  manner  showed  a  kindly 
interest  in  her  brother's  friend.  Trajan  thought  he  should 
have  recognized  Mrs.  Arden  as  Elliot's  mother,  even  if  he 
had  not  been  told.  Mother  and  son  had  the  same  large, 
round,  violet  blue  eyes,  the  same  light  hair,  and  of  the  same 
fine  texture.  The  mother's  features  were  more  uniform  and 
delicate  than  the  son's.  The  jaw  not  quite  so  round,  nor 
the  nose  so  straight.  Mrs.  Arden's  age  might  have  puzzled 
even  her  own  sex.  Were  her  grown  son  not  in  the  room  she 
might  have  been  Edith's  elder  sister.  Her  voice  was  of  the 
quality  heard  among  New  England  women,  more  particu 
larly  Boston.  Trajan  thought  he  had  never  heard  his  native 
tongue  spoken  with  such  melodious  softness.  There  was  a 
piquant  contrast  between  the  roseate  clarity  of  the  mother 
and  son,  and  the  semi-brunette  tone  of  the  daughter. 


THE  HOUSE  OF  ARDEN.  87 

Elliot's  eyes  were  a  dark  gray,  turning  into  light  brown 
under  sudden  emotion  or  enlivened  interest.  As  became  a 
maiden  of  her  years,  Edith  was  shrinking  in  the  presence  of 
strangers,  unless  Elliot  was  by,  when  she  generally  gave 
evidence  of  tact  and  sprightliness.  In  her  devotion  to  that 
darling  of  the  household,  she  would  have  denied  every  one 
of  her  traits,  to  the  standing  scandal  of  the  domestic  regime. 
She  leaned  caressingly  on  Elliot's  arm  as  she  said  to  Trajan: 

"  Mamma  was  quite  sure,  Mr.  Gray,  that  you  would  miss 
breakfast,  under  Elliot's  guidance.  He  has  become  very 
naughty  about  home  engagements  since  he  took  an  apart 
ment  in  the  Latin  quarter.  This  family  will  therefore  look 
upon  you  as  a  saving  influence  upon  our  bad  boy.  Mamma 
particularly  will  show  you  signs  of  her  favor  if  such  influence 
continues  to  prevail." 

"  Yes,  Gray,"  said  Elliot,  pinching  his  sister's  ear, 
"  Madame,  our  mother,  is  the  tyrant  of  this  household.  She 
carries  the  rod  by  night  and  day.  Had  we  entered  the 
house  a  miaute  after  the  serving  of  the  breakfast,  I  should 
have  been  led  out  to  one  of  the  household  keeps,  whose  keys 
you  may  see  upon  madame's  girdle  upon  which  she  tells  over 
our  sins  as  saints  their  prayers  upon  a  breviary." 

"  My  son  proves  that  he  is  not  wholly  wasting  his  time  in 
the  law  school,"  said  Mrs.  Arden  in  her  gurgling  soft  voice, 
and  shaking  the  keys  at  the  maligner.  "  My  children  and 
their  cousin,  who  lives  with  us,  have  made  their  own  code  for 
the  inmates  of  this  house.  Our  old-fashioned  home  customs 
are  no  more  known  than  the  frocks  and  fashions  of  our 
grandmothers.  I  make  a  feeble  stand  at  punctuality,  which 
was  a  law  of  my  husband's  business  and  home  life,  and 
against  that  these  young  people  are  always  in  more  or  less 
open  rebellion." 

"  The  heir  to  the  throne  is  never  in  rebellion  ;  it  is  called 
opposition,"  said  Edith,  adjusting  her  brother's  sleeve- 
buttons. 

"  Yes,"  added  Mrs.  Arden  with  comic  gravity,  "  this  young 


88  TRAJAN. 

gentleman  who  passes  as  the  head  of  the  house  is  its  most 
disorganizing  '  influence.'  " 

"  That  is  when  not  in  disgrace  and  banishment,"  said 
Elliot,  laughing. 

"Self-exile  can  hardly  be  called  banishment,"  said  Edith 
audaciously. 

The  conversation  was  interrupted  by  the  entrance  of 
Mrs.  Briscoe  and  Bella.  While  Trajan  was  bowing  to  the 
ladies,  the  curtains  were  drawn  at  the  end  of  the  further 
apartment.  A  servant  entered  and  announced,  "  Madame 
est  servie" 

Mrs.  Arden  took  Trajan's  arm  and  led  the  way  through 
the  suite  of  sumptuous  drawing-rooms  to  the  breakfast 
table.  The  rare  instinct  of  intelligence  and  taste,  marked  the 
details  of  this  transplanted  home.  The  luxurious  richness 
gave  a  sense  of  tranquillity  and  well-being  even  to  the 
stranger.  Trajan  thought  to  himself  that  it  was  no  wonder 
Elliot  was  such  a  rare  and  lovable  nature  under  the  influ 
ences  of  such  a  mother  and  among  such  surroundings  ;  for 
there  is  as  subtle  a  character  in  the  profusion  that  wealth 
enables  its  possessors  to  command,  as  there  is  in  the  expres 
sion  that  great  knowledge  gives  the  mind  the  power  to  con 
vey.  It  is  not  a  difficult  thing  to  give  an  air  of  refinement 
to  walls,  floors,  and  furnishing,  but  there  is  something  more 
required  to  make  the  house  of  the  flesh  habitable  to  the 
forms  of  the  mind.  With  all  their  artistic  instinct,  the 
French  do  not  realize  this.  Their  luxury  is  depressing  and 
uncharacteristic. 

The  breakfast  room  was  in  odd  contrast  to  the  magnifi 
cence  of  the  French  salle  a  manger.  Soft  congenial  colors 
prevailed  in  carpets,  walls,  and  furniture.  The  frescoed 
walls  were  hung  with  etchings  and  engravings  of  modern 
masters.  One  engraving  only  broke  this  rule — Raphael 
Morghen's  Aurora,  an  artist  proof  from  the  original  in  the 
Rospigliosi  palace. 

Trajan    wondered   if   the    architect    of  all  this   ideally 


THE  HOUSE  OF  ARDEN.  89 

arranged  interior  was  Elliot.  His  admiration  was  so  strongly 
visible  in  his  face  that  Elliot  said:— 

"  My  mother  and  cousin  planned  the  furnishing,  Gray — do 
you  like  the  house  ? " 

"It  is  an  ideal  of  a  civilized  interior,"  said  Trajan 
simply. 

"  There,  mamma,"  said  Edith,  "praise  from  Sir  Hubert 
— Mr.  Gray  is  a  painter  !  " 

"  I'm  afraid  that's  satire,  Miss  Arden,"  said  Trajan  color 
ing — "  artists  are  wretched  hands  in  adjusting  household 
furnishing." 

"  That  can't  be  true  in  your  case,  Mr.  Gray  :  Elliot  has 
been  telling  me  of  your  wonderful  studio,"  replied  Edith 
eagerly. 

"  Mine  is  a  very  poor  affair  compared  with  those  of  the 
great  artists  in  vogue, — you  have  doubtless  seen  some  of 
them.  They  are  very  glad  to  have  visitors,"  replied  Trajan. 

"  We've  never  been  in  a  studio — thanks  to  the  negligence 
of  the  head  of  the  house,"  said  Miss  Briscoe.  "  He  has 
perjured  his  immortal  soul  repeatedly  by  promises  to  take 
us  to  Barbison  to  see  Corot's  and  Rosa  Bonheur's.  Can  we 
not  see  yours,  Mr.  Gray  ?  " 

"  I'm  afraid  it  would  not  repay  you  for  the  trouble  in 
getting  to  it,  but  if  you  care  to  go  you  shall  be  made  wel 
come,"  said  Trajan  gravely. 

"  Madam  Betty  and  Trip  are  well  worth  a  visit,"  cried 
Elliot.  "  You've  no  idea  what  an  interesting  family  Gray 
has  about  him." 

"  Models  ?  "  asked  Bella,  looking  at  her  cousin  inquir 
ingly. 

Elliot  laughed — "  Yes — models  of  fidelity — Gray  would 
call  them.  I  recommend  you  to  try  your  hand  on  them — 
in  emulation." 

"  I  thought  Philip  was  to  breakfast  with  us  ?  "  said  Mrs. 
Arden,  looking  at  her  son. 

"  Philip  is  an  uncertain  quantity  just  now.  His  latest  freak 


90  TRAJAN. 

is  a  trip  to  Norway — where  I  suppose  he  will  gather  data  to 
refute  Buffon." 

"  My  opinion,"  returned  Bella  composedly,  "  is  that  Philip 
is  going  to  Norway,  if  he  goes,  because  there's  six  months 
night  there — he  finds  the  light  of  day  here  too  searching  for 
his  dark  deeds." 

"  Do  you  know  my  nephew,  Philip,  the  person  these 
cousins  are  lampooning  in  this  wicked  way,  Mr.  Gray  ?  " 
asked  Mrs.  Arden,  turning  to  Trajan. 

"  Yes,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  Mr.  Kent  last  night. 
He  was  one  of  the  party  that  dined  with  your  son  in  the  Cafe" 
Voltaire.  I  can  attest  that  these  are  calumnies.  I  thought 
perhaps  he  might  be  touched  with  philosophic  misan 
thropy." 

"  Oh,  he's  any  thing  but  a  misanthrope,  and  I  fear  not 
philosophic.  He's  much  given  to  shading  his  own  merits. 
His  role  just  now  is  the  repression  of  Miss  Bella's  raptures 
—who  for  that  reason  has  declared  war  on  him  and  never 
intermits  hostilities,"  cried  Elliot,  beaming  placidly  at  his 
cousin. 

"  But  wars  are  only  undertaken  for  conquest,  or  revenge. 
Under  which  cartel  has  Miss  Briscoe  declared  ? "  asked  Tra 
jan  turning  to  that  unwarrior-like  young  person. 

"  Vengeance  and  extermination,"  said  Elliot,  "  since 
Philip  has  long  since  laid  down  his  arms  and  sued  for — 
peace." 

"  I  don't  concede  Mr.  Gray's  assumption,"  retorted  Bella, 
"  there  are  wars  for  sentiment,  as  when  the  world  marched  to 
the  Crusades,  and  when  Napoleon  III.  fought  for  Italian 
unity." 

"  But  I  protest,  Miss  Briscoe,"  said  Trajan,  "  these  in 
stances  confirm  my  proposition.  The  Crusaders  marched  to 
retake  the  Holy  Land, the  Bonapartes  to  avenge  Waterloo  and 
annex  Savoy  and  Nice." 

"  Plainly  religion  and  glory  incited  both  ;  these  are  senti 
ments.  Without  that  men  wouldn't  face  death.  The  senti- 


THE  HOUSE  OF  ARDEN.  91 

ment  of  glory  incites  one  man  to  battle,  another  to  write  a 
great  poem,  another  to  paint  a  great  picture,  and  to  my 
mind,"  she  added,  smiling  deprecatingly — "  the  glory  of 
combat  is  greater  than  the  glory  of  art  !  " 

"  Well,  are  we  to  understand  that  it  is  the  glory  of  combat 
that  incites  you  to  war  against  the  Pagan  Philip  ?  "  inquired 
Elliot  maliciously. 

"  The  glory  of  chastening  conceit  and  the  religion  of 
woman's  reason,"  laughed  Bella  undauntedly. 

"  Speaking  of  war,  Mr.  Gray,"  interposed  Mrs.  Arden, 
"  are  we  likely  to  have  war  ?  " 

'*  I  don't  think  Bonaparte  weak  enough  or  mad  enough 
to  go  to  war  now  ;  that  would  be  too  good  fortune  for  his 
enemies  to  count  on,  as  France  is  notoriously  unready." 

"I  am  selfish  in  the  matter,"  added  Mrs.  Arden,  "  for  we 
are  settled  here  for  the  year.  But  if  war  should  break  out 
we  could  never  remain  in  a  city  so  excitable  as  Paris.  The 
Carnots  tell  us  that  secret  societies  of  revolutionists  andcom- 
••munists  are  ready  to  rise  so  soon  as  the  soldiers  leave." 

"I  think  that's  true,"  said  Trajan  seriously,  "but  at 
the  same  time  I  see  no  danger  for  strangers  in  any  event, 
especially  for  Americans." 

"  Well  if  war  does  come  I  hope  we  shall  be  here,"  said 
Bella,  who  had  listened  attentively.  "  Do  women  take  part 
in  modern  wars,  Mr.  Gray  ? "  she  added  suddenly. 

"  As  this  war,  if  it  comes,  will  be  largely  the  work  of 
women,  or  a  woman,  it  is  only  fair  that  women  would  take 
part,"  answered  Trajan  laughing. 

"  Why  what  do  you  mean  ?  Has  Bismarck  or  King  Wil 
liam  satirized  the  Empress,  as  Frederic  libeled  Pompadour, 
and  are  we  to  have  a  war  in  the  nineteenth  century  to  avenge 
a  bad  epigram,  as  they  had  in  the  eighteenth  ? " 

"  Ah  no — nothing  so  humorous  or  sentimental  as  that. 
The  Pope  has  appealed  to  the  Empress  and  the  Empress  is 
bent  on  humiliating  Prussia." 

"  There's  a  chance  for  your  warlike  ardor,  Bella,"  cried 


92  TRAJAN. 

Elliot.  "  Proffer  your  arsenal  to  the  Empress— you  can 
not  satirize  Bismarck.  So  that  between  you  and  Philip, 
the  Arden  family,  like  the  lady  in  the  ballad,  will  be  made 
famous  by  the  pen  or  glorious  by  the  sword." 

"  Glory  or  the  sword  is  a  good  cue  for  me  to  enter  on," 
interrupted  a  hearty  voice,  and  Philip  appeared  in  the  room. 
"  Don't  disturb  yourselves  at  all,  I  have  breakfasted,  but 
to  keep  the  peace  I  will  join  in  the  coffee  and  a  cigar — 
Apropos  of  what  stirring  theme  were  you  citing  the  trou 
badour's  song,  Elliot  ?  " 

"  It  is  all  along  of  a  maid  who  would  go  to  the  wars  and  a 
scribe  who  would  write  a  book." 

"  I  know  of  no  maid  of  such  a  sanguinary  turn  of  mind 
I'm  sure — and  as  for  the  scribe  who  would  write  a  book,  I 
hope  he  has  not  made  enemies  among  the  critics.  It  is  not 
yourself  I  hope,  that  thinks  of  turning  scribe  ?  or  do  you 
contemplate  a  volume  on  The  Reversion  of  Retainers — a 
subject  upon  which  you  should  write  well  as  you  know 
nothing  of  it." 

"  Philip,  don't  encourage  these  young  people  ;  they  have 
been  traducing  you,"  interposed  Edith.  "  I'm  glad  you've 
come  to  confound  Bella — she  delights  in  speaking  evil  of  the 
absent." 

"  Far  be  it  from  me  to  deny  a  woman  her  rights,"  cries 
Philip — with  a  bow  to  Bella. 

"  A  truce  to  this  raillery,  children.  What  about  the 
country  plan  ?  Kate  is  at  Crecy,  and  at  last  we  have  decided 
to  take  the  villa  there.  She  says  that  the  house  is  comfortable, 
though  large  enough  for  a  German  court.  The  gardens  are 
ample,  indeed  they  are  spacious  as  a  park.  The  surround 
ings  are  all  that  could  be  desired  and,  for  a  wonder,  far 
surpass  the  agent's  circular.  The  Marne  flows  through  the 
village  ten  minutes'  walk  from  the  gates.  The  village  is 
sleepy  and  ancient,  and  Bella  and  Edith  were  charmed  with 
the  place.  I,  however,  shall  die  of  ennui,  unless  Elliot 
keeps  his  promise  to  fill  the  house  with  his  friends." 


THE  HOUSE  OF  ARDEN.  93 

"  Hunting  and  fishing  ?  "  asked  Elliot. 

"In.  abundance.  In  fact,  the  village  seems  to  do  nothing 
but  fish,"  said  Edith. 

"And  as  for  hunting  and  sketching — I  foresee,"  added 
Mrs.  Arden,  "that  the  younger  members  of  the  company  will 
have  ample  diversion." 

"  As  to  the  sketching,"  said  Edith,  "  I  shall  be  surprised 
if  Bella  doesn't  turn  out  an  Ary  Schseffer  or  a  Rosa 
Bonheur." 

"Do  you 'know  any  thing  of  the  place,  Gray  ?."  asked 
Elliot,  "  you  have  knocked  about  the  suburbs  a  good  deal." 

"Yes,  I  know  Crecy  very  well.  I  lived  in  the  adjoining 
village,  Cuilly,  all  one  summer  and  autumn.  I  know  of  no 
more  picturesque  landscape  in  France." 

"  How  far  is  it  from  Paris  7"  asked  Elliot. 

"  It  is  twenty-three  miles  to  the  eastward  and  four  miles 
from  the  railway.  You  are  as  isolated  as  in  the  Adirondacks," 
said  Trajan. 

"  Crecy — Crecy,"  said  Philip  musingly.  "  That's  not  the 
place  where  the  Black  Prince  with  King  Edward's  army  of 
thirty  thousand  overcame  one  hundred  thousand  Frenchmen 
and  captured  three  kings  ?  " 

"This  is  a  case  where  a  little  knowledge  is  not  out  of 
place,"  interrupted  Bella  maliciously.  "  I'm  surprised, 
Philip,  that  you  don't  know  one  of  the  most  interesting  places 
in  history.  The  Crecy  where  the  Black  Prince  took  the 
motto  from  the  crest  of  the  King  of  Bohemia—/^  dien" 

"  Such  knowledge,  Bella,  is  not  only  dangerous — 
it  is  disheartening, — for  it  reminds  one  how  far  he  has 
gone  from  his  school  days  and  the  interesting  scraps  of  uni 
versal  history  that  make  most  mark  in  the  youthful  mind." 

"  Perhaps  Bella's  knowledge  is  due  to  the  fact  that  we 
were  near  the  real  Crecy  last  year  in  Normandy  and  passed 
within  ten  miles  of  it  at  Abbeville — don't  you  recollect, 
mamma  ?  "  explained  Edith. 

"  I  don't  recall  it,"  said  Mrs.   Arden.     "  It's  more  im- 


94  TRAJAN. 

portant  to  find  out  about  our  Crecy.  You  think,  Mr.  Gray, 
that  we  shall  find  it  a  tolerable  seclusion  for  a  few  months  ?  " 

"  I  am  sure  of  it — that  is  if  you  don't  seek  gayety.  The 
charms  of  the  surrounding  country  are  indescribable.  There 
are  but  few  neighbors — an  Orleans  prince  has  a  chateau  a 
few  miles  from  the  village,  and  the  famous  show  palace  of 
the  Rothschilds,  Ferrieres,  is  but  three  miles  distant.  There 
are,  too,  what  is  very  rare,  so  near  Paris,  large  tracts  of 
woodland  accessible  to  the  public,  where  the  villagers  hold 
charming  midsummer  fetes.  There  are  innumerable  excur 
sions  worth  making.  Perhaps  the  most  interesting  of  them 
is  Meaux  and  the  forest  of  Fontainebleau — a  few  hours' 
drive." 

"  Then  our  leap  in  the  dark  has  landed  us  in  a  sort  of 
earthly  paradise,"  said  Bella  with  animation.  "  I  long  to  be 
off  at  once." 

"  We  shall  be  installed  by  the  end  of  the  week,  if  Elliot 
will  bring  his  frivolous  mind  to  the  business  of  settling  with 
the  agents  here,"  remarked  Mrs.  Arden  placidly. 

"  Then  you  may  count  it  done,  madame.  My  maxim  is 
never  to  put  any  thing  off  that  is  going  to  result  in  a  good 
time, — unless  something  promising,  a  better  turns  up." 

"  I'm  afraid  that's  your  practice  whether  it  is  your  maxim 
or  not,"  said  Mrs.  Arden,  rising  from  the  table.  The  gen 
tlemen  remained  when  the  ladies  withdrew,  and  the  servant 
served  Chartreuse  and  cigars. 

"  I  say,  Phil, — what  the  deuce  takes  you  to  Norway  ?  You'll 
have  a  much  better  time  out  there  at  the  Crecy  that  the 
British  didn't  capture.  We  shall  be  very  jolly.  Gray  is  to 
stay  the  summer  and  I  have  invited  relays  of  the  law  fellows. 
Mother  has  along  list.  We  shall  be  quite  a  colony  and 
self-dependent  for  amusement.  You'll  be  much  wiser  to 
come  with  us." 

"  What,  and  falsify  Bella's  improvised  natural  history  of 
the  country  ? " 

"  Bella,   I'm   afraid,   would   make    a  joke   on  her    own 


THE  HOUSE  OF  ARDEN.  95 

funeral,"  said  Elliot  laughing.  "  Or  her  wedding,"  added 
Philip  naively,  yawning. 

"  Elliot,"  said  Edith  suddenly  returning,  "  when  you  have 
finished  your  smoke  and  talk,  bring  your  friends  to  the 
library.  Mr.  Carnot  and  his  sister  are  there.  Theo  has  just 
come  from  St.  Cloud  ;  the  Imperial  family  have  settled 
there  for  the  summer,  and  Theo  says  we're  to  have  invita 
tions  for  the  fete  champetre  in  July.  Don't  be  long — we 
shall  expect  you." 

Elliot  by  chance  caught  a  glimpse  of  Trajan's  face,  when 
his  sister  mentioned  Theo's  name.  He  had  risen  and  was 
examining  an  etching.  His  lips  were  compressed  and  his 
eyes  glistened  in  an  unaccountable  way.  So  soon  as  Edith 
left  the  room,  Trajan  turning  to  Elliot,  said  with  some  agi 
tation  in  his  voice  : 

"  I  must  be  off — make  my  homages  to  your  mother  and 
apologies  to  the  other  ladies." 

"  Why  this  sudden  need  of  haste  ?  You,  a  deity  of  the 
realm  of  delight,  where  time  has  no  dial  nor  any  manner  of 
compulsion  !  You  must  really  make  your  adieux  in  person. 
I  refuse  to  charge  myself  with  them,"  said  Elliot,  un 
easily. 

"  You  would  do  well  to  take  Elliot's  advice,  Gray,"  said 
Philip,  with  more  animation  than  he  usually  threw  into  his 
accent.  "  Theo  Carnot  is  a  woman  well  worth  meeting.  She's 
to  the  average  run  of  her  sex  what  the  heroes  of  Lafon- 
taine's  fables  are  to  ordinary  animals.  She's  the  most  remark 
able  creature  I  ever  met,  which  perhaps  isn't  saying  much, 
but  every  man  that  meets  her  says  the  same  thing.  I  count 
the  day  lost,  that  does  not  give  me  an  hour  of  her  enchant 
ing  company." 

Trajan  turned  toward  the  window,  saying  in  a  low  sup 
pressed  tone,  "  I  have  met  Miss  Carnot.  I  quite  agree  with 
you  that  she  is  a  remarkable  person  !  " 

The  manner  rather  than  the  words  suggested  something 
to  Elliot.  He  was  convinced  that  he  held  the  clue  of 


96  TRAJAN. 

Trajan's  extraordinary  conduct  of  the  day  before.  "  Remain 
here  a  moment,  Gray,  I'll  be  back." 

Philip  resumed  :  "  I  have  seen  that  young  lady  in  the 
most  trying  situations,  where  it  exacted  wit  and  self-com 
mand  to  hold  her  own,  and  I  never  sa\v  her  flinch.  The 
haute  monde  adore  her.  She  is  the  soul  of  the  wittiest  salons 
of  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain,  where,  as  you  know,  an 
untitled  divinity  does  not  count  for  much.  But  she  com 
mands  the /<?.$•  before  the  quarterings  of  the  greatest  houses. 
If  her  wealth  were  in  proportion  to  her  spirit,  she  could 
marry  a  reigning  prince — indeed  I'm  not  sure  that  she  won't 
as  it  is." 

"Yes,"  said  Trajan,  abstractedly,  "  the  lady  is  singularly 
gifted.  I  taught  her  drawing,  and  she  could  achieve  a  fine 
place  with  her  pencil  if  she  were  happily  forced  to  follow  it. 
But  she  is  as  ambitious  as  she  is  able." 

"  It's  curious,  too.  She  has  the  courage  of  an  Apache. 
I  saw  her  in  the  Bois,  when  a  party  of  the  court  were 
thrown  into  consternation  by  an  unruly  horse.  One  of  the 
ladies,  Mademoiselle  de  Valoury,  was  unseated  and  fell 
head  downward  from  the  saddle.  The  men  were  —  as 
Frenchmen  usually  are  in  emergencies — helpless,  and  the 
poor  girl  in  imminent  danger  of  being  dashed  against  the 
vehicles.  Miss  Theo  shot  out  from  the  melee,  loosening 
her  foot  frdm  the  stirrup  as  she  darted  on,  and  as  she 
reached  the  flying  horse,  caught  the  bridle,  slipping  to  the 
ground  at  the  same  time  and  holding  her  own  horse  as  a 
support,  brought  the  other  brute  to  a  sudden  check.  I  was 
in  a  cab  and  at  her  side  in  time  to  lift  Mademoiselle  from 
her  dangerous  position.  By  the  time  the  group  had  reached 
us,  Miss  Theo  had  restored  her  friend  to  consciousness. 
You  can  imagine  the  vogue  such  a  bit  of  self-possession 
gave  the  American.  It  was  told  the  Empress,  and  that 
sympathetic  soul  declared  that  the  heroine  deserved  the 
Legion  of  Honor,  and  I  am  told  proposes  establishing  an 
order  des  dames  !  " 


THE  HOUSE  OF  ARDEN.  97 

"  Yes,"  said  Trajan  absently,  "  she  is  a  woman  of  intrepid 
courage." 

"  We  regret  that  you  must  go  so  soon,"  said  Mrs.  Arden, 
at  this  moment  entering.  "  We  had  hoped  that  you 
would  join  us  in  a  little  expedition  to  Vincennes,  where 
we  propose  passing  the  afternoon.  —  You,  however, 
have  broken  bread  with  us  and  we  cherish  the  cult  of 
the  Arabs  on  that  sacrament.  Elliot's  friend  is  always 
welcome  here,"  she  added,  with  a  kindly  glance  at  the 
young  man. 

"  To  be  your  son's  friend  is  a  great  happiness  for  any 
young  man,"  said  Trajan,  fervidly,  "and  to  be  welcomed  by 
his  family  is  a  privilege  that  I  shall  not  abuse,"  he  mur 
mured,  hardly  knowing  what  to  say. 

Elliot  returning  at  this  moment,  accompanied  the  young 
man  to  the  door,  and  as  he  left  him  at  the  head  of  the  stair 
case,  said, .pressing  his  hand  affectionately  : 

"  You  mustn't  be  surprised  to  see  me  running  in  on  you 
at  any  time.  I  am  at  the  disposal  of  the  family  this  after 
noon,  but  if  I  can  manage,  I  shall  be  with  you  in  the 
evening.  I  have  volumes  to  say  to  you,  and  I  mean  to  be 
a  taskmaster  as  exorbitant  as  Prospero  to  Ariel,  until  you 
have  worked  out  the  problems  set  for  you  by  your  own 
destiny  !  " 

"  I  shall  be  a  Caliban  rather  than  an  Ariel,"  said  Trajan, 
smiling,  "and  I'm  afraid  that  you'll  find  me  as  discordant 
an  agent  as  the  son  of  Sycorax." 

"  Well,  even  in  that  role,  your  best  plan  will  be  complai 
sance,  for  you  know  the  tree  was  always  ready  to  imprison 
Caliban  when  he  was  unruly  !  "  The  young  men  separated. 
Elliot  watched  the  retreating  figure  until  he  had  passed  out 
of  the  vestibule  and  returned  slowly  pondering  Trajan's 
latest  inexplicable  freak. 

"  What  do  you  make  of  him  ? "  asked  Philip,  with  a 
show  of  interest. 

"  How  make  of  him  ?  " 


98  TRAJAN. 

"  Is  he  the  eccentric  Carnot  represents  him  ?  By  the 
way,  how  did  you  fall  in  with  him  ?" 

"  Oh,  he  knows  many  of  our  fellows,"  replied  Elliot 
evasively.  "As  to  eccentricity,  he's  no  more  eccentric  than 
you  or  I." 

"  Humph  !  that's  rather  equivocal.  I  don't  know  so 
much  about  myself,  but  I  can  affirm  that  some  of  your 
impulsive  exploits  would  make  a  strong  case  before  a  lunacy 
board.  I'm  afraid  you  would  be  called  cracked  by  the 
temperate  man  and  Brother." 

' '  A  sweet  bell  jangled  out  of  tune  '  "  in  the  Ophelia  sense. 
I'm  afraid  I  can't  lay  claim  to  that  eminence  in  eccen 
tricity  ;  mine  is  the  sort  of  crack  that  sometimes  serves  to 
increase  the  value  of  a  bell  in  a  set  of  chimes." 

"Ah,  when  it  comes  to  belles,"  laughed  Philip,  "you  are 
beyond  my  scope.  I'll  say  no  more." 

"Well,  young  men,"  said  Mrs.  Arden,  entering  at  this 
moment,  "  you  must  come  in  and  see  the  Carnots,  they  are 
asking  for  you."  Then  seating  herself  near  her  son,  she 
added  :  "We're  all  charmed  with  your  protege,  Elliot, 
though  it's  rather  absurd  to  call  a  serious  young  man,  at 
least  a  year  older  than  you,  protege." 

"  It  would  be  more  than  absurd,  if  it  were  the  fact," 
broke  in  Bella  pertly. 

"It's  very  plain  to  me,"  said  Elliot,  shaking  his  head 
solemnly  at  his  cousin,  "  that  I  shall  have  to  begin  to  main 
tain  discipline  in  this  house.  Aunt  Caroline,  I  wonder  that 
you  permit  such  disregard  of  the  respect  due  the  head  of 
the  family.  It's  settled,  then,  that  we  invite  Gray  to 
Cre"cy,"  he  added,  in  a  serious  tone. 

"  Yes,  if  it  depends  on  my  assent,"  said  Mrs.  Briscoe. 
"  His  manners  are  admirable,  and  I  judge  that  he  is  well 
informed.  Of  course,  you  know  his  skill  in  drawing.  I 
shall  be  delighted  to  have  him,  if  Bella  wants  it,"  she  added, 
looking  toward  her  daughter,  as  if  not  quite  certain  that  she 
was  not  going  too  far  even  in  this  non-committal  assent. 


THE  CARNOTS.  99 

'"If  he  draws  as  well  as  he  talks,"  Bella  continued,  "  I 
shall  be  delighted.  He's  a  trifle  too  much  like  a  German 
crossed  in  love,  and  uncertain  as  to  suicide  or  skepticism  as 
a  relief.  That,  however,  may  be  an  advantage  for  us.  He'll 
devote  himself  more  heartily  to  the  gradgrind  of  life  to 
obliterate  the  sentimental  miseries.  I've  noticed  that  when 
people  are  falling  out  of  love,  they  take  more  energetically 
to  the  routine  of  life,  as  after  severe  sickness  one  longs  to 
do  the  work  he  sees  going  on  about  him,"  she  added,  with 
an  air  of  unconscious  sagacity. 

"  Bravo,  Bella  !  how  long  has  the  lamp  of  your  experience 
been  lighted,  that  its  flames  have  illuminated  such  deep 
recesses  and  thrown  such  radiance  over  the  occult  mysteries 
of  life  ? "  asked  Philip,  with  an  affectation  of  surprise. 

"  These  are  of  the  sort  of  convictions  one  derives  from 
the  habit  of  believing  ;  like  the  faith  which  we  can  not  prove," 
said  Bella,  running  her  fingers  over  the  keys  of  the  piano. 
"  I  wish  your  friend's  name  wasn't  Gray,"  said  Edith,  sud- 
suddenly,  "  I  always  associate  it  with  melancholy  people. 
The  teacher  of  mathematics  at  Harmington  was  a  Miss 
Gray.  The  girls  invariably  called  her  Gay — because  she 
was  so  solemn,  I  suppose." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    CARNOTS. 

JULES  CARNOT,  at  twenty-seven,  was  master  of  all  the 
arts  and  accomplishments  of  the  man  of  the  world,  that 
is,  understood  by  the  admirable  phrase  in  which  the  French 
condense  so  much,  savoir  faire.  To  be  agreeable,  though 
the  lever  by  which  he  moved  the  world,  was  the  least 
remarkable  of  the  arts  by  which  he  endeared  himself  to  the 
most  sharply  opposed  persons  and  coteries.  His  vogue  in 


100  TRAJAN. 

all  ranks  of  Parisian  society,  native  as  well  as  stranger,  was 
one  of  those  vaguely  recognized  mysteries,  which  are  the 
more  impenetrable  that  it  never  occurs  to  any  one  to  ask  an 
explanation.  Well-bred  dunces  and  pushing  parvenus  are 
often  tolerated  even  in  the  exclusive  circle  of  the  exclusive 
coterie,  but  Jules  was  neither.  Though  not  a  wit,  he  was 
ready,  well  informed  and  intellectually  inclined  ;  though  no 
one  imagined  him  poor,  it  was  never  assumed  that  he  was 
rich.  To  his  intimates  it  was  no  surprise  to  see  the  elegant 
young  man  the  confidant  and  familiar  of  a  duke  in  one 
sphere,  the  discreetly  jovial  camarade  of  a  Bohemian  in 
another.  Women  called  him  "  adorable  ;  "  men  called  him 
"a  charming  fellow."  His  English  intimates  called  him  "  a 
brick  " — an  adventurous  form  of  admiration,  which  did  not 
disturb  his  conventional  equipoise,  perhaps,  because  he  had 
been  so  long  in  France,  that  he  was  more  Frenchman  than 
American,  and  did  not  quite  comprehend  the  familiar  signifi 
cance  of  the  slangy  testimonial.  By  birth  only  an  Ameri 
can,  Jules  was  Parisian  in  adaptability  and  careless  tolera 
tion  of  such  speech  and  forms  as  he  did  not  comprehend. 
For  the  savoir  faire  of  the  race  is  as  often  a  negative  quality 
as  a  knowledge  of  men  and  character — as  silence  in  nine 
cases  out  of  ten  is  accepted  as  tolerant  wisdom — too  indo 
lent  or  too  catholic  to  expose  ignorance  in  others.  Paris  is 
the  city  of  all  the  world  where  even  the  stranger  is  impreg 
nated  insensibly  with  a  moral  and  social  atmosphere  of 
cynical  acceptance  of  appearances,  quite  irrespective  of  pos 
itive  conviction.  It  is  the  creed  of  the  well-bred  to  ignore 
all  that  concerns  a  man,  not  visible  in  his  exterior — after 
certain  preliminary  conventions  have  been  stipulated. 

Jules  Carnot  had  passed  these  crucial  conventions.  He  was 
received  in  the  accepted  salons  of  the  capital  and  tolerated 
in  the  ruling  caste.  No  one  knew  exactly  the  grounds  of 
his  acceptance,  or  his  right  among  the  rulers,  but  his  pres 
ence  and  prowess  among  them  were  recognized  without 
question.  Pushing  Americans,  who  made  him  one  of  the 


THE  CARNOTS.  IOI 

lions  of  their  social  shows,  vaguely  regarded  him  as  a  per 
sonage  among  the  Mite  ;  the  French,  who  received  him  with 
almost  equal  favor,  believed  him  to  be  a  personage  in 
America. 

The  Carnots  of  Jules'  generation  were,  in  fact,  Ameri 
cans.  The  children  had  passed  most  of  their  lives  in 
France,  where  they  had  been  sent  to  school  in  deference  to 
a  rich  aunt,  who  was  to  be  placated  into  leaving  the  boy  her 
fortune.  Bertrand  Carnot,  the  father,  was  the  grandson  of 
an  Emigre,  who,  having  royalist  leanings,  quit  France  in 
1793,  in  the  red  days  of  the  great  revolution.  This  grand 
father,  Jean  Carnot,  had  been  a  notary  in  Meaux,  and  like 
so  many  of  his  countrymen,  supported  himself  in  England 
for  a  time  by  teaching  the  children  of  Albion  the  French 
tongue.  He  selected  a  seaport  town,  where  on  a  clear  day 
his  eyes  could  see  the  white  cliffs  of  the  land  he  loved. 
During  the  conquering  years  of  the  Republic,  but  more 
especially  when  Napoleon  roused  the  British  lion  to  impo 
tent  fury,  rural  England  made  no  distinction  as  to  the  sym 
pathies  of  the  exiled  Gaul,  and  grandfather  Carnot  was 
forced  to  seek  his  bread  among  a  more  tolerant  people.  He 
shipped  before  the  mast  on  an  American  merchantman  at 
Plymouth  in  1801,  resolved  to  seek  his  fortune  among  his 
compatriots  in  New  Orleans  or  Montreal. 

But  he  came  to  his  own  in  vain,  in  both  these  cities  of  his 
native  blood  and  speech.  In  1812  he  found  himself  a  pen 
niless  wanderer  in  the  streets  of  New  York,  where  fortune 
smiled  on  him.  He  fell  in  with  the  head  of  a  great  com 
mercial  firm  that  carried  on  vast  traffic  with  Bordeaux.  He 
served  his  patron  faithfully  as  valet  and  private  factotum 
until  1819,  when  his  benefactor  dying,  left  him  a  legacy 
which  was  the  foundation  of  a  great  fortune  to  the  thrifty 
Jean.  When  the  will  was  opened,  it  was  found  that  the 
kind  master  had  left  the  exile  $5,000  and  a  modest  house, 
with  an  ample  garden,  in  that  quarter  of  the  city  known  as 
Varick  Street,  at  that  time  a  rural  suburb  of  the  metropolis. 


102  TRAJAN. 

With  this  little  fortune,  which,  to  the  sober  notions  of 
Jean,  seemed  affluence,  he  sent  to  his  native  village  for  his 
mother  and  sweetheart.  The  mother  was  dead  when  the 
great  news  reached  Meaux,  but  the  sweetheart,  who  had 
waited  all  these  years  for  the  fulfillment  of  the  vows  they  had 
plighted  as  boy  and  girl  under  the  maples  of  Bishop  Bos- 
suet's  garden,  a  quarter  of  a  century  before,  was  still  wait 
ing.  Jean  was  a  middle-aged  man  of  forty  and  she  an 
elderly  spinster  of  thirty-seven  when  this  befell  the  lovers. 
But  after  their  marriage  the  two  set  to  work  with  the 
accumulative  thrift  of  the  race,  and  when  Jean  died  in  1840 
his  son  inherited  a  handsome  fortune  and  a  gold  mine  in 
real  estate,  \vhich  the  shrewd  father,  with  the  passion  of  the 
Gaul  for  land,  had  bought  rood  by  rood  in  the  thriving 
quarter  above  Fourteenth  Street  and  the  vicinity  of  Madison 
Square.  The  son,  Bertrand,  before  the  war,  was  ranked 
among  the  princes  of  trade  in  New  York.  He  had  houses 
in  New  Orleans,  Bordeaux  and  New  York,  and  his  fleets 
covered  every  track  of  commerce.  His  family  was  in  the 
serenest  rank  of  the  social  leaders  of  the  metropolis.  He 
had  married  into  one  of  the  most  potent  "  connections  "  in 
the  politics  of  the  country,  selecting  his  spouse  for  this  sort 
of  prestige  rather  than  wealth,  of  which  he  had  enough. 
Unlucky  entanglements  in  cotton  just  before  the  Civil  War 
swept  most  of  his  fortune  away. 

The  blow  was  too  much  for  the  mother,  who  received  the 
news  in  France,  where  her  son  Jules  and  her  two  daughters, 
Clarice  and  Theodosia,  were  at  school.  When  the  children 
returned  to  New  York  a  not  less  terrible  affliction  met  them. 
Bertrand  Carnot,  from  the  clear-brained,  sagacious  mer 
chant,  had  been  stricken  into  something  like  imbecility. 
The  two  daughters,  reared  in  affluence,  came  back  to  the 
home  they  knew  but  little  of,  with  only  a  dim  notion  of  the 
change  in  their  life.  Little  more  than  the  homestead 
remained  to  the  family,  and  here  for  a  year  the  household 
kept  up  a  shadow  of  its  former  state.  Carnot's  impaired 


THE  CARNOTS.  103 

faculties  were  unequal  to  the  task  of  repairing  the  wreck 
which,  under  other  conditions,  would  not  have  been  hope 
less.  Hundreds  unfortunate  as  he  in  the  crash  that  fol 
lowed  secession,  not  only  recovered  but  augmented  their 
fortunes.  But  with  the  temperament  of  his  race,  succumb 
ing  to  disaster,  Bertrand  Carnot  let  the  golden  strands  slip 
through  his  fingers,  and  in  1862  even  the  homestead  was 
swallowed  in  the  flood. 

The  girls  recoiled  from  the  future  that  stared  them  in  the 
face.  They  could  not  endure  an  existence  in  New  York, 
where  the  bare  wants  of  life  remained  to  them.  They  per 
suaded  the  father,  that  with  the  $2,000  a  year  left,  the  family 
could  live  in  something  like  ease  in  France,  and,  in  any 
event,  with  their  family  connections,  the  opportunities  for 
Jules  would  be  greater.  The  father  was  not  difficult  to  per 
suade,  and  in  1863  the  family  expatriated  itself  to  the  land 
of  its  ancestors.  Society,  however,  put  another  construction 
on  the  return  of  the  Carnots  to  the  land  of  their  forefathers. 
Clarice  Carnot  at  twenty-two  was  a  rarely  beautiful  girl — in 
every  sense  what  her  compatriots  would  have  called  dis- 
tinguee.  She  was  the  conceded  beauty  of  her  coterie  in  New 
York  and  Paris.  Stately  as  a  princess — she  was  universally 
known  as  the  "  Duchess  "  among  the  Brahmin  caste  of  the 
former  city.  But  it  was  the  austere  beauty  painters  love  to 
put  on  canvas,  when  they  represent  the  more  frigid  deities 
of  the  intellects  rather  than  the  amours.  She  was  cold, 
unimpressionable,  and,  it  was  said,  unbearably  haughty,  even 
to  insolence. 

During  the  year  of  her  return  to  New  York,  she  had 
suitors  for  every  social  scene.  Which  she  preferred,  no  one 
knew,  nor  did  she  ever  give  a  sign.  She  had  met  a  young 
man  in  Paris,  who  had  followed  her  to  New  York,  with 
whom  the  gossips  linked  her  name  obtrusively.  Philip  Kent 
had  been  graduated  at  Harvard,  taken  a  degree  at  Oxford, 
and  spent  three  years  in  Paris.  He  was  the  heir  of  one  of 
the  most  pretentious  of  the  commercial  magnates  of  New 


104  TRAJAN. 

York,  and  was  commonly  known  as  "  Prince  Croesus  "  in 
the  clubs.  His  sister  had  married  the  eldest  son  of  an 
English  duke.  The  family  looked  for  nothing  less  than  a 
princess,  as  a  fit  mate  for  such  a  paragon  as  they  had  reared 
and  adorned  to  regulate  the  social  and  political  world. 

A  few  months  before  the  departure  of  the  Carnot  family 
for  France,  Clarice  had  asked  her  father  into  the  library,  and 
exacting  a  pledge  of  secrecy  until  such  time  as  she  should 
lift  it,  informed  him  that  she  was  engaged  to  Philip  Kent, 
but  that  the  marriage  could  not,  for  reasons  which  the  young 
man  held  obligatory,  take  place  at  present,  nor  the  engage 
ment  even  be  made  known.  The  father's  brain,  shaken  by 
age  and  disaster,  was  quite  unsettled  by  this  apparent  revival 
of  the  family  fortunes.  He  fell  into  a  curious  state  of 
whispering.  He  would  take  the  servants,  or  any  one  who 
happened  to  be  alone  with  him  in  the  room,  into  a  corner 
and  whisper  solemn  nothings  with  his  finger  on  his  lips, 
wagging  his  head  solemnly,  and  leaving  the  astonished  person 
helpless  with  wonder.  Philip  had  visited  the  house  but 
rarely.  One  day,  Carnot  meeting  the  young  man  in  Wash 
ington  Square,  favored  him  with  one  of  his  mysterious  confi 
dences,  but  went  further,  revealing  his  knowledge  of  the 
secret,  saluted  him  rapturously  as  a  prospective  kinsman, 
and  congratulated  him  on  securing  not  only  the  flower  of  the 
Carnot  flock,  but  the  most  beautiful  girl  in  the  world. 
Whether  the  old  man's  effusiveness  or  his  semi-insanity 
repelled  him,  Philip  listened  in  frigid  silence  to  the  infatu 
ated  father,  and,  with  a  freezing  bow,  bade  him  good-day. 

The  same  afternoon,  Theo  entering  her  sister's  room, 
found  Clarice  stretched  on  the  floor  unconscious,  with  a 
note  crumpled  in  her  hand.  Even  before  summoning  aid, 
the  girl  took  care  to  read  the  contents.  It  was  from  Philip, 
briefly  rehearsing  the  compact  they  had  made  and  the  pen 
alty  forced  upon  him  by  its  infraction.  He  then  related  the 
luckless  interview  of  the  morning,  and  closed  by  declaring 
that  to  save  her  pain,  rather  than  any  other  motive,  he  with- 


THE  CARNOTS.  105 

drew  his  offer,  imploring  her  to  forget  his  wretched  exist 
ence,  or  that  she  had  ever  met  one  who  was  in  every  way 
unworthy  of  her. 

On  recovering  her  senses  Clarice  concealed  this  letter, 
alleging  some  passing  pretext  to  account  for  the  swoon.  Her 
sister  discreetly  said  nothing.  The  next  day,  when  alone 
with  him,  Clarice  coldly  announced  to  her  father  that  the 
engagement  with  Philip  Kent  was  broken.  The  old  gentle 
man  smiled  in  silly  skepticism,  intimating  with  senile  arch 
ness  that  lovers'  quarrels  were  to  matrimony  what  spring 
frosts  are  to  plants,  providential  measures  to  prevent  too 
rapid  maturity.  But  as  the  days  wore  on  and  Clarice  kept 
wholly  in  her  room,  never  appearing  at  table  or  going  out, 
as  she  had  formerly  done — even  his  wandering  wits  gathered 
themselves  sufficiently  together  to  realize  that  it  was  no 
lovers'  quarrel,  and  he  began  dimly  to  suspect  and  torment 
himself  with  the  truth.  Clarice's  pride  enabled  her  to 
stifle  whatever  of  anguish  this  bitter  and  humiliating 
trial  cost  her.  Hers  was  not  the  sort  of  heart  one  is  apt  to 
associate  with  the  pathetic  exuberances  of  the  love-lorn. 
Whatever  her  feelings  were  she  made  no  sign.  So  far. as  she 
knew,  her  father  alone  of  the  family  was  aware  of  the  dis 
carding.  Presently  she  was  seen  at  the  opera  and  in  social 
gatherings,  with  her  habitual  air  of  haughty  reserve.  If  any 
change  was  remarked,  it  was  that  ghe  had  a  trifle  more  of 
coldness  and  imperiousness  than  before. 

The  studious  attention  of  Lord  Chester  Varian,  son  of  the 
Earl  of  Cranstoun,  set  the  gossips  agog,  prophesying  the 
beauty's  fate.  It  was  said  on  all  sides  that  it  would  be  a 
match  and  that  the  ambitious  beauty  had  jilted  Kent  for  the 
Cranstoun  coronet.  Kent's  manner  confirmed  the  rumor. 
He  was  by  no  means  the  commonly  accepted  type  of  the 
broken-hearted  swain,  but  his  manner  when  he  met  the  lady 
was  full  of  a  chivalrous  devotion,  that  the  knowing  set  down 
as  hopeless  passion.  The  sudden  departure  of  the  young 
lord,  after  a  visit  to  the  Carnot  mansion,  brought  gossip 


106  TRAJAN. 

and  speculation  to  a  dumbfounded  silence.  In  the  portentous 
drama  of  war  then  occupying  public  attention,  the  final  ruin 
of  the  Carnots  made  but  a  passing  ripple  on  the  social  cur 
rent.  Too  many  were  borne  down  in  the  universal  swirl  to 
give  any  one  victim  pre-eminence.  They  passed  into  the 
vortex,  and  the  danger  threatening  others  gave  them  the 
melancholy  comfort  of  oblivion. 

From  out  the  ranks  which,  through  wealth,  circumstances 
and  convention,  wield  such  despotic  influence  over  integral 
destiny,  the  Carnots  drifted,  like  the  hulk  of  a  great  vessel 
stricken  into  helplessness  before  the  combat  is  well  begun, 
into  the  deep  waters  of  forgetfulness.  They  drifted  pas 
sively,  aimlessly.  Head  of  the  house  there  was  none.  The 
father  had  become  a  child.  The  children  were  left  alone  to 
direct  the  family  destiny.  The  relatives  on  the  mother's 
side  were  Southern  in  their  antecedents  and  sympathies  and 
had  with  the  first  outbreak  gone  South.  Clarice  made  not 
the  least  murmur.  She  gave  no  sign  of  discontent.  She 
waited  patiently  for  her  father  to  resume  his  natural  leader 
ship  and  she  waited  in  vain.  The  fine  old  family  home 
stead  in  Gramercy  Square  became  hateful,  long  before  it 
passed  from  their  possession.  It  was  soon  evident  to  the 
children  that  their  father  had  lost  all  power  of  recovering 
his  ancient  faculty  of  initiative  and  audacity.  The  death  of 
his  wife  had  completed,  the  moral  prostration,  that  always 
seems  to  strike  hardest  when  it  strikes  natures  conspicuously 
resolute  and  self-dependent. 

In  the  dispersion  of  the  family  treasures,  Clarice  went 
through  the  ordeal  tearless,  unmurmuring.  To  the  petulant 
and  boyish  complaints  of  Jules,  she  had  but  one  answer  : 
"  We  are  poor,  we  must  part  with  the  last  penny  rather  than 
leave  a  stain  on  our  name."  To  her  sister  she  said  simply  : 
"  We  must  go  where  our  poverty  shall  be  no  reproach  to  us  ; 
we  must  not  linger  on  the  outskirts  of  a  world,  simply 
tolerated,  where  we  have  been  first."  After  a  time  the 
dreadful  business  was  ended  ;  the  name  of  Carnot  emerged 


THE  C A  KNOTS.  107 

without  a  stain.  No  man  was  a  penny  the  poorer  through 
the  family's  fault  and  Clarice  was  satisfied.  In  the  autumn 
of  1863  the  family  were  established  in  a  charming  apartment 
in  the  most  genteel  of  the  creamy  palaces  of  the  princes' 
quarter  in  Paris  on  the  Rue  Galilee. 

With  the  personal  treasures  saved  from  the  New  York 
home,  supplemented  by  antiques,  bric-a-brac,  tapestries  and 
the  exquisite  trifles  that  may  be  gathered  for  a  song  in  Paris,  by 
those  who  know  how  to  buy,  the  new  home  was  a  reflex  rather 
of  well-to-do  ease  than  exiled  poverty.  Until  the  last  detail 
of  the  change  had  been  completed  and  the  nine  rooms 
had  taken  on  the  air  of  nameless  completion  that  is  implied 
in  familiarity,  Clare  bore  up  with  a  hard,  tearless  composure 
piteous  to  see.  She  frightened  the  father,  now  restored  to 
mental  balance,  but  in  revenge,  physically  and  morally  supine. 
Jules  and  Theo  resumed  their  places  in  study,  the  one  in 
the  College  of  France,  the  other  in  the  Convent  des  Anges, 
at  Neuilly. 

The  end  of  effort,  the  blank  of  utter  rest,  brought  the  inevi 
table  reaction.  As  she  found  herself  alone  day  after  day  in 
the  house,  sacred  from  no  associations,  unsympathetic  as 
new  surroundings  always  are,  she  gave  way  to  a  deeper  and 
deeper  melancholy,  which  the  poor  old  father  was  powerless 
to  combat,  even  if  he  had  dared  broach  the  girl's  grief.  She 
struggled  bravely,  determinedly  against  collapse,  but  the 
severe  strain  of  months  broke  down  all  resistance.  One  day 
Theo  was  called  to  the  convent  vestibule,  where  Celeste,  the 
housemaid,  stood  weeping  and  wringing  her  hands.  Mon 
sieur  had  commanded  her  to  bring  mademoiselle  home  at 
once,  her  sister  Clare  was  thought  to  be  dying.  For  weeks 
Clare's  fate  hung  in  terrifying  uncertainty.  Her  feverish 
paroxysms  revealed  nothing.  Had  Theo  not  taken  advan 
tage  of  the  incident  in  the  old  home  in  Gramercy  Park,  she 
would  never  have  known  that  her  reserved  and  haughty  sister 
was  mortal,  and  suffered  from  the  same  ills  that  wrench  the 
heart  of  the  gentlest  and  most  impulsive. 


Io8  TRAJAN. 

The  misty  yellow  haze  of  a  golden  September  afternoon 
burnished  the  foliage  in  the  park  opposite  the  house,  the 
first  time  Clare  was  able  to  sit  in  the  salon,  where  Theo 
played  softly  the  airs  her  sister  loved.  A  wondrous  change 
had  been  wrought  during  the  captivity  of  disease.  The  thick 
black  hair  had  turned  into  masses  of  silvery,  fluffy  whiteness. 
As  she  sat  at  the  window,  where  the  sumptuous  equipages 
of  the  afternoon  world  rolled  over  the  smooth  roadway  of 
the  Champs  Elysees  with  their  burden  of  the  gay,  the  rich, 
and  the  luxurious,  the  girl  looked  like  a  draped  figure  in 
marble,  the  head  crowned  with  transparent  tresses  ot  driven 
snow.  The  old  haughty  spirit  had  been  burned  out  in  the 
crucible  of  suffering.  She  gradually  resumed  her  place  in  the 
family,  and  as  the  days  wore  on  every  one  was  conscious  of 
a  subtle  transformation.  The  mind  had  suffered  the  same 
change  as  the  body.  Every  thing  about  her  was  softened 
not  exactly  to  gentleness,  but  to  passivity. 

Theo  and  Jules  went  back  to  their  studies,  and  the  house 
in  the  Rue  Galilee  returned  to  its  monotonous  regime.  Clare 
resumed  the  routine  tranquilly,  going  nowhere,  and  seeing 
no  one.  She  had  many  acquaintances  in  Paris,  familiars  of 
her  old  days  of  regnant  dominion,  but  she  made  no  sign  to 
them.  Few  of  them  knew  that  the  former  belle  of  New 
York  was  living  in  Paris,  and  even  those  who  had  known 
her  most  intimately  did  not  venture  to  obtrude  unbidden.  The 
only  interest  that  attached  her  to  the  outside  world  was  her 
church  associations.  Catholic,  like  its  ancestors,  the  cere 
monial  piety  of  the  Roman  Church  had  always  been  main 
tained  in  the  Carnot  family.  Received  as  parishioners  at 
St.  Philippe  de  Raoul,  Clare  was  not  long  in  winning  the 
deep  interest  of  the,  at  that  time,  celebrated  priest,  Pere 
Barodet,  who  had  for  some  time  been  stirring  Paris  flocks  by 
the  Savonarola-like  vigor  of  his  ministry.  The  priest  became 
warmly  interested  in  his  new  devotee,  dining  regularly 
with  the  family  on  Saturday,  when  Theo  and  Jules  were 
home  for  the  day. 


THE  CARNOTS.  109 

Papa  Carnot,  as  he  soon  became  known,  fell  into  his  new 
lines  with  placid  contentment.  So  soon  as  he  had  taken  his 
morning  coffee,  arrayed  with  the  care  to  detail  habitual  to  a 
Frenchman,  no  matter  what  his  age,  he  sallied  forth  into  the 
Champs  Elysees,  adorned  his  button-hole  with  the  blossoms 
of  the  season,  and  from  ten  o'clock  until  one  devoured  the 
newspapers  on  file  in  the  American  bank,  on  the  Rue  Scribe. 
The  French  nature  in  him,  unchanged  by  sixty  years  displace 
ment  and  alien  grafts,  came  to  the  surface  so  soon  as  he  was  set 
down  among  the  influences  congenial  to  its  reassertion.  It 
is  the  French  instinct  to  be  gay,  if  not  sustainedly  cheerful 
—under  conditions  which  profoundly  depress  the  more 
equable  Saxon.  He  took  very  readily  to  the  narrow  econ 
omies  and  repulsive  shifts  that  distinguish  the  middle  class 
French. 

He  saw  nothing  degrading  in  the  souring  self-denials  and 
niggard  calculations  that  waste  the  energies  which  Saxons 
turn  to  account  in  large  achievements.  To  the  Parisian 
there  is  nothing  so  valueless  as  time,  though  he  be  born 
and  bred  in  the  land  ruled  by  the  maxim  that  makes  time 
and  money  convertible  terms.  Papa  Carnot  forgot  the 
secret  of  wealth  and  conquest,  and  abandoned  himself  to 
the  dolce  far  niente  of  inaction.  To  get  sight  of  his  favor 
ite  journal,  he  would  sit  patiently  for  hours  in  the  solemn 
circle  of  the  bank  reading-room  gazing  absorbedly  at  the 
books  of  diagrams  adorning  the  long  tables  in  which  the 
theaters  of  Paris,  the  summer  hotels,  and  the  great  steam 
ship  lines  embalm  their  seductions. 

At  the  end  of  a  year  Papa  Carnot  could  have  retailed  the 
wonders  of  every  great  industry  set  forth  in  these  gorgeous 
catalogues,  which  form  the  library  of  hotel  and  bank  read 
ing-rooms  on  the  Continent.  At  one  o'clock,  as  regularly 
as  the  bell,  he  was  in  the  pretty  salle  a  manger  in  the  Rue 
Galilee,  presiding  at  the  modest  dejetiner  a  la  fourchette  with 
Clare,  prattling  on  the  news  he  had  gathered  in  the  jour 
nals  and  the  gossip  of  the  bank.  Saturday,  when  Theo 


no  TRAJAN. 

and  Jules  were  home  for  the  day,  he  interrupted  this  rou 
tine,  and  joined  the  young  folks  in  little  picnics  to  St. 
Cloud,  Versailles,  St.  Germain,  Meudon  and  the  countless 
pleasure  haunts  of  the  city.  Clare  never  made  one  in  these 
promenades,  from  which  the  others  returned  merry  and 
hearty  to  join  Pere  Barodet  and  herself  at  the  dinner  which 
on  this  evening  was  en  fete,  with  Burgundy  and  Champagne. 

Papa  Carnot's  greatest  delight,  however,  after  his  midday 
meal  and  nap,  was  to  saunter  down  the  Champs  Elysees, 
watching  the  gay  masses  that  promenade  under  the  chest 
nuts  below  the  Rond-point  and  fill  the  springy  chairs  set 
in  serried  ranks  between  the  trottoir  and  the  roadway.  His 
open-air  day  was  ended  with  an  hour,  from  five  until  six, 
among  the  boisterous  groups  of  nursemaids  and  children 
that  form  the  audiences  of  the  French  Punch  and  Judy — 
Les  Theatres  Guignol.  Taking  his  place  frugally  outside 
the  rope  that  marked  the  paying  audience  from  the  gratui 
tous,  he  entered  into  the  pantomimic  humors  of  the  little 
scene,  saluting  the  lusty  whacks  of  the  manikin  Punch  on 
the  head  of  the  pigmy  Judy,  or  the  woes  of  the  bedeviled 
gendarmes,  with  as  keen,  if  not  as  noisy,  a  rapture  as  that  of 
the  ecstatic  children  or  their  gossiping  bonnes. 

Many  an  American,  rolling  luxuriously  by  in  his  chariot, 
turned  in  a  puzzled  way  to  catch  a  second  glimpse  of  the 
tall,  gray-haired  man  towering  above  the  medley  of  nurse 
maids,  soldiers,  tourists,  and  what  not,  absorbed  in  the 
mimic  woes  of  Punch,  with  an  expression  of  vague  recogni 
tion  of  the  calm  old  face  under  other  circumstances  and  in 
other  places.  Whether  the  old  gentleman  ever  recognized 
these  startled  visions  as  personages  he  had  met  in  affairs, 
or  entertained  in  other  days,  he  made  no  sign,  but  when  he 
sat  at  the  dinner  table  he  could  give  Clare  the  roster  of  all 
the  New  Yorkers  known  to  them  in  Paris.  At  nine  o'clock 
the  father  and  daughter,  finishing  a  game  of  chess  or  casino, 
joined  in  the  devotions  of  the  day,  according  to  the  Roman 
rubric,  and  by  ten  o'clock  the  house  was  silent. 


THE  CARNOTS.  Ill 

This  monotonous  routine  went  on  for  two  years.  The 
family  fitted  itself  into  the  new  and  circumscribed  grooves 
without  murmur.  The  high  hopes  secretly  cherished  that 
Clare's  beauty  would  re-establish  their  fortunes  by  a  great 
marriage  were  long  ago  abandoned,  and  Jules  was  now 
regarded  as  the  hope  of  ihe  house.  Clare  encouraged  no 
wooers.  Indeed,  she  did  not  find  herself  among  people, 
exclusive  as  her  circle  was,  where  desirable  matches  were 
likely.  There  were  vague  hopes  that  the  close  of  the  civil 
war  would  restore  the  family  some  of  the  debris  of  the  for 
tune  lost  in  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion — as  it  was  in  the 
Southern  house  of  Carnot  that  the  golden  chain  had  snap 
ped  in  1860. 

But  in  1866  all  hope  of  regaining  even  a  penny  of  the 
lost  millions  vanished  in  the  report  of  a  judicial  commis 
sion  which  declared  the  derelict  agents  irresponsible  and 
bankrupt.  But  worse  than  this  was  to  come.  The  two- 
thousand-dollar  income  derived  from  the  mother's  estate 
was  cut  down  one-half,  owing  to  confiscation  and  the  iron 
clad  oath  exacted  by  Congress,  and  consequent  shrinkage 
in  the  value  of  investments.  Clare's  passive  indifference 
which  had  hitherto  sustained  her,  broke  down  under  this 
new  calamity.  She  succumbed  helplessly  to  the  blow, 
wringing  her  thin  hands  and  secluding  herself  in  her  room. 
But  the  scepter  passed  from  her  nerveless  hand,  to  one  far 
more  capable  of  wielding  it.  The  faculty  of  management, 
which  distinguishes  the  French  woman  beyond  any  of  her 
civilized  sisters,  was  inherited  in  the  highest  degree  by  Theo. 
She  happened  to  be  in  the  house  when  the  meaning  of  the 
news  was  told  by  the  trembling  parent.  "  What, -in  heaven's 
name,  is  to  become  of  us  ;  we  can  never  exist  on  $1,000  a 
year,"  groaned  the  old  man  helplessly. 

Clare  looked  out  of  the  window  in  a  listless,  uninterested 
way,  as  though  the  question  didn't  reach  her,  buried  as  she 
was  in  some  distant  thought. 

"  For,"  resumed  the  father,  in  the  tone  of  a  man  who  in- 


112  TRAJAN. 

vites  and  relishes  refutation,  "  we  can  never  pay  2,000  francs 
for  this  apartment,  300  francs  for  the  cook,  150  francs  for 
the  maid,  Theo's  schooling  and  Jules'  college,  expense  sout 
of  5,000  francs.  It  will  take  every  penny  of  our  income  to 
live,  even  by  dismissing  one  servant  and  reducing  the  rent 
in  a  cheaper  apartment." 

He  looked  dejectedly  at  Theo,  as  if  she  were  in  some  way 
to  suggest  means  and  ways,  and  she  did  not  disappoint  him. 

"  Jules  shall  not  quit  college,"  she  said,  decisively  ;  "  he 
has  but  a  year  more.  He  shall  remain  that  year,  if  I  have 
to  sell  bouquets  in  the  Palais  Royal  or  at  the  door  of  the 
Opera.  His  career  depends  upon  his  graduation,  and  our 
future  depends  upon  his  career.  He  must  finish  it,  if  the 
rest  of  us  live  in  a  mansard." 

Clare  turned  and  looked  at  her  sister  in  languid  wonder  ; 
the  father's  glance  fell  upon  the  letters  lying  on  the  table 
in  consternation.  Theo  had  always  discovered  positive  con 
viction  and  unshakable  determination.  He  felt  that  a 
tyrant  was  about  to  take  the  government  of  the  household 
and  disturb  the  serene  ways  that  he  had  come  to  love.  He 
made  a  feeble  attempt  to  resist  the  new  power. 

"  But,  my  child,  how  are  we  to  manage  ?  One  thousand  a 
year  for  four  people  ;  you  can  see  yourself  that  it  is  impos 
sible  in  the  way  we  live  now.  Jules  should  go  to  work. 
He  has  been  at  school  all  his  life  and  should  be  fit  for 
something  now.  I  was  a  junior  partner  at  his  age,  and  it  is 
my  opinion,  anyway,  that  too  much  schooling  unfits  young 
men  for  active  life.  No,  we  can  not  keep  Jules  at  college 
on  one  thousand  dollars  and  live  ourselves." 

This  was  said  deprecatingly,  as  though  the  poor  man 
were  responsible  for  the  inelastic  quality  of  the  dollars. 

Theo  had  risen  and  was  walking  the  floor  with  her  hands 
clasped  behind  her.  She  stopped  before  her  father,  where 
she  could  watch  Clare's  face,  and  said  confidently  : 

"  I  have  a  plan  that  will  resolve  all  our  difficulties.  The 
present  rent  can  be  cut  down  one-half  ;  the  apartment  simi- 


THE  C A  KNOTS.  113 

lar  to  this  on  the  fourth  floor  is  vacant  ;  it  is  in  every  way 
as  desirable  as  this  and  costs  but  800  francs.  There  is 
1,200  saved  at  a  blow.  To  my  mind  the  fourth  floor  is 
more  agreeable  than  this,  for  there  is  a  balcony  in  front  and 
a  terrace  in  the  rear.  I  will  quit  the  convent  to-day  and 
that  outlay  is  saved.  I  will  do  the  work  of  the  bonne  and 
that  leak  stops.  But  I  have  a  better  resource  than  these 
miserable  pinchings  ;  I  will  put  myself  into  relations  with 
the  commission  agents  in  the  Rue  Scribe,  and  I  can  earn 
oceans  of  money  from  New  Yorkers  who  can  not  shop  them 
selves,  not  understanding  the  language. 

"  What  better  are  we  than  others  who  live  in  this  way  ?  " 
she  added,  as  Clare  started  in  dismay.  "  There  are  the 
Flints,  the  Davisons  and  the  Grants,  who  live  in  splendor 
by  the  very  same  means.  I  am  proud  as  you  are,"  she 
cried,  her  voice  thick  and  passionate,  "but  I  am  not  proud 
enough  to  starve  as  long  as  there  is  money  in  the  pockets  of 
any  one  I  know  !  Furthermore,  what  is  there  equivocal  or 
demeaning  in  driving  to  the  great  magasins,  to  do  the 
talking  and  pay  the  money  for  people  who  can't  talk 
with  the  tradesmen  ?  There's  nothing  disgraceful  in  that, 
I'm  sure.  One  is  merely  the  voice  of  a  rich  purse  and  not 
its  slave,  as  a  banker  is.  I  have  often  done  it  for  pleasure  ; 
why  not  for  a  livelihood  ?  I  will  at  once  make  known  to 
all  our  friends  that  I  am  at  their  service,  and  you  shall  soon 
see  me  with  an  income  that  will  put  us  at  ease.  We  shall 
live  as  we  have  lived  ;  Jules  shall  finish  his  course  like  a 
gentleman  and  begin  his  career  unshackled  by  the  necessity 
of  dividing  his  mind.  He  will  be  a  great  advocate  some 
day.  I  heard  the  cure  of  the  Madeleine  tell  Father  Barodet 
that  young  Carnot  was  regarded  as  a  born  orator  at  the 
Ecole  de  Droit." 

"  If  we  reduce  expenses,  as  you  suggest,"  interrupted 
Clare,  with  only  a  degree  of  change  from  her  usual  listless- 
ness,  "  we  shall  lose  all  our  church  influence.  The  Countess 
de  Bellechasse  and  the  Baroness  Verneuil,  who  have  opened 


114  TRAJAN. 

the  faubourgs  to  Jules,  believe  him  rich,  or  likely  to  be. 
None  of  these  people  will  countenance  us  if  we  exhibit  our 
straits.  There  is  absolution  in  the  church  for  every  sin  but 
poverty.  Who  among  your  and  Jules'  aristocratic  friends 
will  countenance  us  au  quatrieme  ?  All  Jules'  advantages 
thus  far  have  come  from  his  intimacy  with  the  sons  of  these 
people.  His  reception  in  the  Faubourg  is  due  solely  to 
the  idea  that  we  have  American  prospects,  and  that  Jules 
is  to  share  the  rentes  of  our  old  aunt,  the  Baroness  Pleine- 
vide." 

Theo  laughed  outright  as  Clare  concluded.  "  A  fig  for  the 
Bellechasse,  the  Verneuil,  and  the  rest.  The  Prince  d'Amboise 
is  devoted  to  Jules.  I  can  get  along  without  all  this  poverty- 
stricken  noblesse  better  than  it  can  get  along  without  me.'' 
"  Don't  talk  to  me,"  resumed  Theo  after  a  pause,  "  there's 
nothing  but  sham  and  pretense,  from  one  end  to  the  other, 
of  these  great  families.  The  young  men  live  in  the  clubs 
and  cafes,  gambling  and  squandering  ;  they  waste  enough 
on  opera-dancers  and  follies  of  all  sorts  to  keep  the  home- 
table  well  laden.  But  they  never  go  home.  What  do  they 
care,  if  their  wretched  fathers  and  mothers  pinch  and  slave, 
so  long  as  they  have  means  to  drive  or  ride  in  the  Bois, 
appear  at  the  opera,  or  shine  at  court.  Jules  pointed  out  the 
other  day  a  group  driving  tandem  in  the  Bois,  every  one  of 
them  engaged  in  some  sort  of  business  under  fictitious 
names.  The  young  Count  de  Blauvault  is  a  partner  with 
the  rich  butcher  Duval  ;  De  Rogny,  the  swell,  is  partner  in 
a  theater  ;  the  Marquis  Clarette  has  a  wine-shop  in  the  Rue 
Dauphin,  kept  by  his  protegee,  a  grisctte  from  the  Latin 
quarter.  I  suppose  very  rich  people,  like  the  De  Broglies, 
the  Foulds,  the  Decazes,  who  send  their  domestics  to  fill  the 
family  pews  at  St.  Philippe's,  have  plenty  on  their  tables  and 
live  like  Christians  ;  but  it  is  my  experience  that  in  the 
ordinary  French  household  there  is  starvation  in  private  and 
sham  abundance  in  public.  Fancy  Jules'  frame  of  mind, 
coming  in  with  a  college-friend  and  finding  our  table,  like 


THEO    REVIVES  THE  FAMILY  FORTUNES.        115 

scores  I  have  seen,  without  a  cloth,  and  showing  stint  of  any 
kind  in  the  food." 

"  You  have  made  good  use  of  your  opportunities,  Theo,  " 
said  Clare,  laughing.  "  You  ought  to  write  sketches  of 
'  French  Interiors  '  for  the  English  magazines  ;  they  would 
prove  irresistible." 

"  Who  knows  but  I  may  ;  as  I  am  to  be  responsible  for 
the  family  income  henceforth,  I'll  keep  that  as  a  possible 
pot-boiler." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THEO     REVIVES    THE    FAMILY    FORTUNES. 

THROWN  into  a  good-humor  by  Theo's  lively  sallies  on 
their  neighbors'  poverty,  the  Carnots  dismissed  gloomy 
forebodings,  and  the  reconstruction  of  the  domestic  regime 
was  left  entirely  to  .the  energetic  revolutionist.  Theo  was 
better  than  her  promise.  She  quit  the  convent  the  same  day 
the  evil  news  came,  to  the  explosive  astonishment  of  her  girl 
friends,  all  of  whom  admired,  while  many  stood  in  whole 
some  awe  of  her.  No  one  suspected  the  cause,  for  it  is  an 
article  of  implicit  belief  among  the  French  that  American 
and  wealth  mean  the  same  thing — as,  a  few  years  since, 
Briton  stood  for  lordliness  and  treasure.  A  long  experience 
of  the  sharp  practices  of  the  boastful  islanders  has  dissipated 
the  belief,  which,  up  to  1870,  had  not  been  shaken  in  regard 
to  the  Americans. 

The  Carnots  were  commonly  believed  to  be  wealthy,  and 
they  took  no  pains  to  discredit  the  impression — indeed,  the 
ingenious  Theo,  for  Jules'  sake,  furthered  the  delusion  in 
countless  trifles,  known  to  be  most  impressive  with  the  cred 
ulous  Gaul.  With  equal  promptness  the  2,000  francs  rent 
was  diminished  to  800.  Here  Theo  gave  a  foretaste  of  her 
business  tact.  The  landlord  refused  to  consent  to  the 


n6  TRAJAN. 

exchange  of  lease  without  a  large  bonus — a  half-year's  rent, 
to  assure  him  against  loss.  Theo  at  once  made  inquiries  at 
the  bank  for  a  family  in  need  of  an  apartment.  There  were 
plenty  such,  and  introducing  herself  to  several,  she  at  last 
secured  a  tenant  who  not  only  took  the  lease,  but  paid  a 
bonus  of  500  francs  for  immediate  possession,  and  secured 
the  services  of  the  quick-witted  negotiator  to  furnish  it  for 
them. 

When  the  work  was  done,  Theo  laid  down  a  check  for 
3,000  francs  as  the  result  of  her  fortnight's  enterprise.  The 
family  looked  on  their  new  chief  with  rapturous  amazement. 
The  fourth  floor  was  arranged  precisely  like  the  first  and  was 
even  more  commodious,  for  the  balcony  could  be  used  as  an 
evening  resort,  from  which  to  watch  the  splendid  spectacle 
of  Paris  en  gala  on  the  Champs  Ely  sees.  It  must  be  borne 
in  mind,  further,  that  height  does  not  bear  the  same  infer 
ence  in  French  mansions  that  it  would  in  countries  where 
detached  houses  are  the  rule.  As  Theo  remarked  jocosely, 
"  It  was  in  every  way  a  rise  in  the  world  ;  there  was  purer 
air,  more  chance  for  outdoor  life  on  the  wide  balconies, 
additional  exercise  on  the  extra  stairs,  and  money  in 
purse." 

Not  a  word  had  been  said  to  Jules.  Great,  therefore,  was 
the  astonishment  of  that  young  dandy  when,  ringing  at  the 
familiar  door,  a  strange  servant  opened  it.  He  Was  living 
en  gar f  on  in  the  Latin  quarter,  and  had  been  off  on  the 
Marne  visiting  one  of  his  comrades  during  the  family  trans 
planting.  Theo  undertook  the  explanation,  as  the  young 
man  came  in  bewildered  and  dropped  upon  a  sofa,  his  face 
an  interrogation  point. 

"  Mon  cher,  we  are  a  thousand  dollars  a  year  poorer  than 
when  you  were  here  last.  In  order  to  keep  you  in  college 
until  you  finish  we  have  reduced  expenses,  and  we  want  you 
to  economize  as  much  as  you  can  in  your  pocket-money. 
We  must  pinch  in  every  thing, — " 

Jules  winced. 


THEO    RE  VI VES  THE  FA  MIL  Y  FOR  TUNES.         1 1 7 

"Oh,  we  shall  not  be  forced  to  economize  in  the  French 
sense.  Whatever  we  have  to  give  up,  we  shall  at  least  have 
plenty  on  the  table.  No  floods  of  Burgundy  or  champagne 
when  you  bring  your  friends,  but  enough,  and,  with  good 
management,  some  luxuries." 

Then  she  explained  all  that  had  been  done,  winding  up 
with  an  expression  of  cheerful  confidence  in  her  ability  to 
meet  the  crisis,  that  dispelled  the  gloom  from  the  handsome 
face  before  her.  Jules  sank  back  in  the  cushions,  dropped 
his  head  on  the  back  of  the  sofa  and  looked  at  his  sister 
wonderingly  ;  she  continued  as  if  answering  his  thought. 

"  There  will  be  no  perceptible  difference  in  your  circum 
stances.  If  you  can  manage  to  come  and  live  at  home,  it 
will  increase  your  pocket-money  to  thai*  extent.  If  you 
keep  your  rooms  in  the  quarter,  of  course  there  is  the  rent, 
washing,  fuel  and  countless  little  expenses  you  are  put  to 
when  a  friend  drops  in.  Do  just  as  you  like  about  it.  We 
shall  be  satisfied  whatever  you  do.  If  you  come  home,  it 
will  cost  you  six  sous  a  day  on  the  omnibus,  unless  you  walk 
one  way,  which  I  think  would  be  a  good  plan.  It  would 
keep  you  in  good  digestion  and  freshen  you  for  study. 
Make  up  your  mind  to  it  and  we  shall  be  very  happy  all  at 
home  again." 

"When  one  can't  have  what  one  loves,  one  must  love  what 
one  has  ;  your  reasoning,  Theo,  would  do  credit  to  our 
Roman  digest.  I  will  give  up  the  rooms  to-morrow  and  send 
my  traps  home.  How  do  father  and  Clare  take  the  new  dis 
pensation  ? "  he  asked,  as  Theo  gave  him  a  rapturous  hug 
for  his  Spartan  self-denial. 

"  Clare  doesn't  seem  to  mind  it  at  all  ;  nothing  moves 
her,  as  you  know.  Papa  really  sees  no  difference.  He  eats, 
sleeps,  goes  to  the  bank,  buys  his  bouquet,  patronizes  the 
pit  at  Guignol,  maunders 'over  chess  with  Clare,  or  casino 
with  me,  and  is  perfectly  happy.  I  doubt  if  he  really  com 
prehends  the  matter  at  all."  Then  she  added,  looking  at 
her  brother  as  she  held  his  two  hands  in  her  own,  "  Jules, 


liS  TRAJAN, 

mon  cher,  do  you  realize  that  the  rehabilitation  of  the  House 
of  Carnot  is  for  us  to  bring  about,  your  brain  and  my — "  she 
hesitated  and  colored. 

"  Your  what —  ?  "  asked  Jules,  curiously. 

"  Never  mind  what,"  she  said  in  a  low  voice,  looking 
away  from  him.  "  I  feel  equal  to  the  mission — do  you  ?  " 

Jules  was  but  a  lad,  older  by  two  years  than  the  self-con 
tained,  inveterately  confident  little  manager  who  sat  beside 
him.  The  future  had  never  obtruded  itself  upon  him  very 
distinctly.  He  had  his  dreams,  vague,  shadowy  dreams,  in 
which  abundance,  luxury  and  even  fame  of  some  sort 
figured,  but  he  had  never  stopped  to  examine  the  processes 
by  which  all  these  were  to  be  brought  to  him.  Theo's 
question  gave  hiffi  a  sudden  shock,  as  when  one  comes  to 
the  end  of  an  easy  journey  by  rail  and  finds  a  rough  road 
and  no  vehicle  to  take  him  to  an  unknown  destination.  His 
mind  was  instantly  full  of  retrospect  and  apprehension.  He 
had  lived  the  ways  of  a  sybarite.  He  was  so  accustomed  to 
the  pleasant  amenities  of  life,  that  the  mere  suggestion  of  a 
divergent  path  gave  him  a  shock — such  as  a  man  feels  who, 
walking  through  flowery  lanes  and  blossoms,  sees  smiling 
vineyards  and  abundant  fruits  in  the  uplands  above  him  and 
comes  suddenly,  fatigued  and  inert,  to  a  broad  and  bridge- 
less  stream.  The  weary  work  of  retracing  his  steps  and  the 
uncertainty  of  finding  a  thoroughfare  dishearten  him.  He 
sinks  to  the  ground,  and  the  longer  he  gives  way  to  discour 
agement  and  inaction,  the  more  remote  the  chance  of  regain 
ing  the  right  path  in  time. 

Though  not  rich,  Jules  had  never  felt  any  severe  depriva 
tion  in  college.  His  associates  in  the  academy  and  university, 
though  the  sons  of  wealthy  men,  many  of  them  of  the  ancient 
noblesse,  regarded  him  as  rich,  because,  being  an  American 
he  could  be  nothing  else.  Young  men  in  France,  no  matter 
what  the  parental  status,  are  never  allowed  lavish  pocket- 
money.  It  thus  happened  that  Jules  was  always  the  Croesus 
of  his  class  in  ready  cash.  The  prudent  management  of  the 


THEO    RE  VI VES  THE  FA  MIL  Y  FOR  TUNES.        1 1 9 

family  resources  since  the  return  to  France,  had  enabled 
him  to  spend  as  much  as  in  his  boyish  days,  when  there  was 
no  limit  to  his  allowance.  He  was  always  equal  to  his  asso 
ciates  in  the  hilarious  but  modest  dissipations  that  the  stu 
dents  indulged  in  in  the  Latin  quarter.  He  knew  perfectly 
well  that  the  intimacy  accorded  him  by  his  aristocratic 
associates  was  due  to  their  belief  in  his  heirship  to  American 
millions.  His  heart  sank  as  he  thought  of  the  change  that 
would  come  upon  his  agreeable  relations,  when  it  was  known 
that  he  was  poor  and  almost  a  pretender — that  he  was  not 
only  of  the  despised  bourgeoisie,  but  of  the  very  poor 
bourgeoisie. 

Theo  watched  all  this  with  an  aching  heart.  Her  sym 
pathy  with  her  brother  was  profound  and  tender — the  ruling 
passion,  indeed,  of  her  heart  and  brain.  She  loved  him  as 
she  loved  no  other  member  of  the  family — as  she  could 
hardly  ever  love  any  body  in  the  world — she  often  said  to 
herself.  She  was  very  like  him,  not  only  in  face,  but  in  the 
finer  fibers  of  her  nature.  Their  two  brains  seemed  to  work 
as  one  when  the  brother  and  sister  were  moved  deeply.  She 
comprehended  the  drift  of  his  thought  as  clearly  as  if  he  had 
spoken,  but  it  never  occurred  to  her  to  view  it  as  ignoble  or 
unmanly  in  the  pampered  darling  to  think  only  of  himself, 
his  pleasures,  his  vanities,  his  fine  friends  and  the  figure  he 
was  to  cut  in  their  eyes.  To  her  these  considerations  did 
not  seem  paltry  or  trivial. 

On  the  contrary,  she  quite  shared  the  feeling  of  angry 
rebellion  that  made  the  lad  hate  himself  and  his  surround 
ings.  She  resented  what  she  considered  unmerited  poverty, 
with  a  bitter,  scornful  sense  of  personal  and  family  injury, 
that  made  the  selfish  anguish  of  the  young  man  natural  and 
consistent.  She  never  dreamed  that  her  own  and  the  family's 
abnegation  fed  the  brother's  selfishness.  She  thought  it 
only  right  that  the  rest  of  them  should  pinch  and  economize, 
that  Jules  might  live  congenially  while  fitting  himself  for  the 
destiny  awaiting  him.  He  was  to  restore  the  ruined  fortunes 


1 20  TRAJAN. 

of  the  House  of  Carnot,  and  while  he  girded  himself  for  the 
battle,  what  more  fitting  than  that  the  rest  should  toil  and 
slave  and  stint  and  cheer  him  on  ?  It  never  occurred  to  her 
that  it  was  not  in  preparation  for  the  battle  she  was  sacri 
ficing  the  rest.  Jules  was  willing  to  accept  the  work  allotted 
him,  but  in  his  own  way  and  on  his  own  terms.  It  was  in 
the  spirit  of  the  feudatory  led  to  battle  by  his  liege,  sword 
and  buckler  thrust  into  his  nerveless  hands,  instead  of  win 
ning  them  like  a  real  knight,  and  in  the  conquest  proving  his 
right  to  wear  them. 

Jules  was  not  of  the  knightly  sort.  His  life  had  been  an 
easy,  if  not  pampered  one.  He  knew  no  such  thing  as 
self-denial.  Not  that  he  was  ungenerous  or  devoid  of  a  cer 
tain  egotistic  chivalrousness.  In  danger  he  was  no  coward  ; 
in  an  emergency  he  was  self-reliant.  His  severest  crosses  in 
life  hitherto  had  been  the  deprivation  of  a  horse,  a  box  at 
the  opera,  and  the  unstinted  bank  account  of  some  of  his 
American  companions.  Not  that  he  had  thought  deeply  or 
repined  habitually  over  these.  His  nature  was  too  mercurial 
for  that.  In  New  York  the  perpetual  obtrusion  of  these 
wants  would  perhaps  have  soured  his  spirit  and  embittered 
him. 

Coming  to  Paris  before  these  things  had  begun  to  make 
the  impression  of  daily  denials,  he  had  rather  wondered  at 
the  absence  of  them  than  brooded  over  their  unattainability. 
In  the  Latin  quarter  he  readily  fell  into  the  life,  half  Bohe 
mian,  half  scholastic,  that  distinguishes  its  academic  move 
ment  from  nearly  every  university  society  in  the  world.  He 
mingled  as  readily  in  the  joyous  bouts  of  the  bourgeoisie 
students  as  in  the  rarer  atmosphere  of  the  young  noblesse  of 
the  faubourgs.  He  had  picked  up  all  the  liberal  ftatnboyan- 
cies  of  the  social  freebooters,  and  was  as  cynically  indifferent 
to  doctrine  as  the  New  York  railroad  magnate  who  con 
fessed  himself  a  democrat  with  democrats,  and  a  republican 
with  republicans — but  all  the  time  for  himself  !  He  had  the 
arguments  of  Blanc,  Rousseau,  and  Prudhon  at  the  end 


THE  O    RE  VI VES  THE  FA  MIL  Y  FOR  TUNES.        121 

of  his  tongue.  He  was  in  the  best  standing  in  that  sacred 
cdnacle  which  made  the  table  of  Voltaire  the  altar  of  its  devo 
tions. 

He  was  an  habitue 'of  the  Cafe  Procope,  the  temple  of  con 
temporary  radicalism,  political  and  social.  He  was  loudest 
in  applauding  the  young  oracle  of  republicanism,  Leon 
Gambetta,  in  his  vehement  monologues — when  the  clinking 
glasses  of  the  Procope  guests  punctuated  the  resounding 
periods.  He  sat  in  the  hemicycle  of  the  law  school  under 
the  ministrations  of  a  republican  professor,  a  prince  of  the 
Roman  empire  on  one  hand,  an  Italian  revolutionist  on  the 
other,  and  whether  it  was  craft,  address  or  indifference,  he 
w.as  as  intimately  trusted  by  the  prince  as  the  prolctaire,  the 
confidant  of  both. 

He  had  the  rare  faculty  we  see  in  some  men  and  most 
women — evoking  confidence  and  giving  none,  with  an  ex 
pansive  effusion  that  lured  the  most  wary.  He  knew  some 
thing  of  every  one  that  gave  him,  in  a  certain  sort,  the  mas 
tery  over  his  confidants,  betrayed  by  his  apparent  frankness 
into  saying  what,  on  second  thought,  was  an  abiding  and 
bitter  regret.  For,  if  the  borrower  be  the  servant  of  the 
lender,  the  confidant  of  a  man's  conscience  is  in  a  sort  his 
master  and  may  become  his  tyrant. 

Nor  was  it  wholly  when  the  wine  was  in,  that  Jules'  com 
rades  unsuspectingly  forged  the  chain  whose  keys  the  young 
man  held.  Not  that  there  were  any  sinister  mysteries  in  the 
lives  of  the  varied  groups  into  whose  intimacy  Jules  was 
thrown — beyond  the  fragile  amours  of  the  day  or  college 
pranks  of  a  boisterous  sort.  It  would,  however,  have  been 
excessively  awkward  for  the  young  patrician,  whose  family 
hoped  for  political  preference  at  the  hands  of  the  democracy, 
to  have  Jules  casually  hint  at  the  sentiments  of  loathing  and 
contempt  cherished  for  the  proletaire  by  the  noble  caste. 
Nor  would  the  exuberant  evangels  of  the  rights  of  man  and 
universal  leveling,  have  enjoyed  confronting  their  aristo 
cratic  fellows  daily,  conscious  that  their  inmost  convictions 


122  TRAJAN. 

were  known  to  the  common  enemy,  before  the  great  day 
when  they  were  to  be  put  in  execution. 

Jules  was  thus,  without  any  original  tendency  for  the  chi 
cane  of  life,  irresistibly  swirled  into  those  prudent  compro 
mises  with  his  friends  and  his  convictions,  which  end  by 
warping  the  conscience  into  insincerity  and  unscrupulous- 
ness.  As  between  a  plain  good  action  and  a  plain  bad  one, 
involving  no  one  he  cared  for,  he  would  unhesitatingly  have 
chosen  the  good — not  because  it  was  good,  but  because  it 
was  gentlemanly  and  could  bring  no  sting  afterward.  But 
he  would  have  consented  to  the  bad  as  readily,  if  the  other 
threatened  to  mar  the  symmetrical  contour  of  his  daily  enjoy 
ment.  His  horror  of  poverty  and  craving  for  the  considera 
tion  that  comes  from  the  power  to  realize  every  wish,  were 
more  the  aspiration  for  an  intellectual  freedom  than  a 
vulgar  craze  for  social  distinction.  This  was  his  own  ex 
planation  of  the  agnosticism  that  enabled  him  to  be  all 
things  to  all  men — save  to  himself. 

From  the  day  that  he  found  Theo  at  the  head  of  the 
house,  Jules  kept  the  words  she  had  spoken  in  his  mind.  He 
girded  himself,  day  by  day,  for  the  work  she  had  set  him. 
His  reticence  about  himself  and  the  family  became  more 
studious,  as  his  tongue  became  more  free.  His  aristocratic 
friends  were  regaled  less  at  the  charming  apartment  in  the 
Rue  Galilee,  nor  was  he  weak  enough  to  cultivate  with 
more  marked  assiduity  the  Brahmin  agencies  that  he  counted 
upon  to  aid  him,  in  that  uncertain  future  that  was  now 
always  before  him,  waking  or  sleeping. 

Theo  aided  him  with  matchless/;/^^.  She  had  kept  her 
word  to  the  letter  in  promising  the  others  ease.  The  family, 
for  the  first  time  since  it  came  to  Paris,  had  a  modest  balance 
at  the  bankers,  and  the  very  first  use  Theo  put  that  mark  of 
opulence  to  was  to  hand  in  Jules'  signature  as  entitled  to 
check  on  the  deposit.  This  increased  his  repute  among  the 
collegians,  not  one  of  whom  had  such  a  mark  of  parental 
confidence.  Theo's  skill  and  business  sagacity  established 


THEO    REVIVES  THE  FAMILY  FORTUNES.         123 

her  in  a  splendid  income  before  the  end  of  the  first  year.  In 
1867  a  New  Yorker  on  the  boulevards  might  have  imagined 
himself  on  Broadway.  Every  third  man  he  met  was  an 
acquaintance  or  a  person  known  by  sight  on  "  the  street." 
Scores  of  Theo's  school  friends  were  in  the  city  with  their 
parents,  to  visit  the  great  Exposition  and  replenish  the 
family  finery. 

Theo's  business  became  so  burdensome  that  she  had  to 
call  in  help.  But  no  one  succeeded  like  herself.  It  was 
not  only  to  do  the  talking  that  her  clients  desired  her  assist 
ance,  it  was  to  make  use  of  her  admirable  taste.  They  were 
content  to  be  put  off  with  substitutes  in  ordinary  purchases, 
but  in  jewelry,  silks,  bric-a-brac  and  what  not,  they  preferred 
to  wait  days  rather  than  go  without  the  master-mind.  Theo 
was  by  no  means  put  out  by  this  evidence  of  her  prowess. 
Nor  was  she  slow  in  learning  the  mysteries  of  the  traffic  in 
foreign  ignorance  and  credulity.  She  had  prudently  mas 
tered  every  detail  in  one  of  the  American  agencies  that 
abound  in  the  Rue  Scribe.  She  paid  a  round  fee,  and  put 
herself  into  the  hands  of  one  of  the  shrewdest  usurers  in  the 
confidence  of  her  compatriots.  It  was  a  woman  who  had 
been  ruined  by  the  rebellion,  the  wife  of  a  petty  official  in 
the  American  legation,  who  had  begun  her  career  by  news 
paper  letters  and  then  drifted  into  this  peculiar  trade.  She 
practiced  on  the  vanity  and  credulity  of  the  stranger.  Hav 
ing  some  occult  relation  with  an  English  journal  much  read 
by  transatlantic  persons,  she  was  enabled  to  stimulate  the 
morbid  craving  of  Americans  for  publicity,  and  made  use  of 
this  to  ingratiate  her  services  with  the  flattered  victim. 

Not  a  turn  in  the  practice  escaped  Theo.  Gifted  with 
brains,  accomplished  in  letters,  she  soon  left  her  mentor  far 
behind,  and  in  contemptuous  pity  gave  her  such  of  her  clientele 
as  were  content  with  her  offices.  Well  as  she  knew  the  im 
positions  practiced  upon  Americans,  she  was  dumbfounded 
at  the  ramifications  enmeshing  the  victim.  No  sooner  was 
the  American  in  the  hands  of  the  agent,  than  the  sys- 


124  TRAJAN. 

tematized  extortions  began  ;  there  was  an  understand 
ing  with  the  cabman,  an  understanding  with  the  shopman, 
an  understanding  with  the  domestics,  an  understanding 
with  the  restaurant,  understanding  with  the  theater  ticket- 
seller — absolutely  an  understanding  with  the  railway  agents 
and  steamship  men.  From  all  these  the  agent  drew  a 
commission  as  well  as  from  the  purchasers.  In  order 
to  pay  commissions  and  make  profit,  all  these  sellers 
were  of  course  forced  to  overcharge  the  luckless  stranger, 
who,  unacquainted  with  the  language,  was  a  victim  inviting 
the  constant  fleecing  befalling  him  or  her.  It  was  in  most 
cases  her,  for  men  are  too  shrewd  to  buy  through  interpret 
ers,  and  if  they  do,  are  better  judges  of  values. 

Theo  counted  the  fifty  dollars  well  spent  that  initiated 
her  into  all  this  iniquity.  She  did  not  herself  descend  to  all 
the  meannesses.  She  refused  to  share  the  sous  with  the 
cabman,  the  francs  with  the  salesman,  the  pour-boire  with 
the  waiter,  or  any  of  the  petty  thefts.  She  made  a  regular 
agreement  with  a  few  great  firms.  They  were  to  pay  her  so 
much  per  cent,  on  every  hundred  francs  bought,  and  while 
she  exacted  payment  to  the  last  farthing,  she  was  met  with 
reverential  obeisances  in  every  great  bazar  in  the  capital. 
Her  clients,  it  was  soon  notorious,  bought  more  and 
with  less  haggling  than  any  others  brought  in  by  outside 
agents.  So  gratified  were  the  merchants  and  so  liberal  the 
margins  on  the  sales  they  made,  that  not  content  with  the 
percentage  paid  Theo  they  regularly  made  her  presents  of 
dress  patterns,  laces  and  the  specialties  for  which  she  brought 
most  custom. 

When  her  clients  were  old  friends,  they  did  not  venture 
to  offer  their  chaperon  money.  In  such  cases  ^andsome 
presents  were  given,  which,  by  an  understanding  with  the 
merchant,  were  set  to  Theo's  credit,  and  the  value  returned 
in  cash  when  she  collected  her  percentage.  Few  of  the 
friends  who  found  Theo  so  exquisitely  dressed,  so  radiant 
in  youth  and  high  spirits,  realized  the  ruin  that  had  been 


THEO    REVIVES  THE  FAMILY  FORTUNES.         125 

wrought  in  the  family  fortunes  seven  years  before.  But 
even  had  they  known  the  straits  to  which  the  Carnots  were 
driven,  delicacy  would  have  kept  them  from  offering  money 
to  a  lady. 

It  was  generally  supposed  in  New  York  that  the  Carnots 
had  gone  to  Paris  to  enjoy  a  rich  legacy,  and  it  was  vaguely 
rumored  that  a  noble  kinswoman  had  adopted  Jules  as  her 
heir.  Theo,  however,  while  dressed  in  'perfect  taste,  in 
dulged  in  no  extravagance.  There  wasn't  a  gleam  of  gold 
to  be  seen  about  her  person — but  plain  as  her  attire  was, 
every  woman  that  came  near  her  suffered  in  comparison. 
Whether  it  was  the  slender,  willowy  figure,  the  charming 
pose  of  arms  and  head,  the  sensuous  undulation  of  carriage, 
it  was  hard  to  say  ;  but  among  a  score  of  women  she  was 
the  magnet ;  among  a  roomful  of  talkers  her  voice  alone 
subdued.  She  had  an  art  of  her  own  in  making  simple 
draperies  and  very  ordinary  materials  into  gracious  folds  and 
furbelows,  that  cheapened  the  rich  tissues  of  her  friends, 
costing  a  hundredfold  more. 

She  made  the  fortune  of  one  poor  little  shopman  by  ap 
pearing  in  a  sort  of  linsey,  fitting  tight  to  the  body,  which  so 
fired  every  woman  that  saw  it,  that  nothing  would  do  but 
she  must  have  one  like  it.  Nor  were  the  merchants  slow  to 
recognize  this  value  in  their  patron.  Hundreds  of  fabrics 
considered  dead  stock  were  sent  her,  and  within  a  month 
the  enchanted  shopman  had  sold  the  last  ell.  It  was  a 
comedy  that  no  one  could  have  enjoyed  more  than  the 
crdfiy  little  creature  herself,  to  Watch  her  operations  with  a 
rich  party  of  her  family  acquaintances  in  one  of  the  grand 
magazines.  As  it  would  not  do  to  offer  Theo  money,  she 
really  must  take  a  dress  pattern  exactly  like  the  one  her 
taste  had  chosen  for  Mrs.  Mammon,  or  a  bonnet,  or  a  yard 
of  lace,  or  a  box  of  gloves,  or  a  bracelet,  or  a  diamond  ring, 
or  a  fine  width  of  tapestry,  or  an  ormolu  clock.  The  witch 
edified  the  home  circle  with  no  end  of  ludicrous  accounts  of 
these  lively  travesties,  until  the  American  family  on  the  floor 


126  TRAJAN. 

below  hearing  the  hilarity  through  the  open  windows  would 
send  to  know  "  what  was  up  !  " 

Theo's  first  year's  earnings  were  something  over  ten  thou 
sand  dollars,  to  say  nothing  of  an  ample  wardrobe  for  herself, 
Clare,  Jules  and  papa.  Nor  were  Jules  and  Papa  Carnot 
idle  in  the  harvest  of  1867.  Husbands,  sons  and  brothers, 
and  even  lovers,  had  to  be  remembered  by  fond  wives, 
sisters  and  sweethearts.  The  gains  from  these  aids  swelled 
the  receipts  of  1867-8  to  $10,000,  and  then  Theo  felt  at  ease. 
This  was  the  great  epoch  in  her  venture.  After  the  Exposi 
tion,  business  fell  off,  and  her  earnings  did  not  reach  $4,000. 
The  house,  too,  shared  in  the  good  fortune.  It  was  a  per 
fect  museum  of  rare  china,  bric-a-brac,  articles  de  Paris, 
engravings  and  the  million  bits  that  go  to  make  a  Paris 
interior  an  artistic  fairy  scene. 

Nor  was  the  material  gain  all.  Theo's  cleverness,  wit, 
good-humor  and  beauty  became  a  sort  of  cult,  not  only 
among  the  colony  (as  the  exiled  Americans  and  English 
style  themselves  when  settled  in  any  number  in  a  foreign 
city,  for  wealth  has  a  sort  of  free-masonry  of  its  own),  but 
among  the  social  magnates  of  native  society,  and  she  was 
soon  the  vogue  in  the  most  distinguished  salons  of  the 
faubourg,  where,  when  it  was  found  that  she  was  sister 
to  the  handsome  Jules,  she  was  more  welcome  than  ever. 
She  was  the  inseparable  guest  of  some  wealthy  family, 
at  the  opera,  at  the  theaters,  summer  watering-places,  min 
isterial  fetes,  on  tours  to  Fontainebleau,  Switzerland  and 
Biarritz. 

When  the  American  Minister,  who  was  at  that  time  a  man 
of  fine  accomplishments,  gave  receptions,  Theo  was  invalu 
able  in  entertaining  the  foreigners,  for  she  spoke  the  German 
and  French  tongues  with  great  purity.  At  one  of  the  great 
fetes  at  the  ministry  of  foreign  affairs  she  was  remarked  by 
the  Emperor  himself,  who  deigned  to  make  a  little  joke  with 
her — to  the  effect  that  it  was  a  lucky  thing  for  the  Empress 
that  there  was  no  Mademoiselle  Carnot  in  Hoboken  when 


THEO    RE  VI VES  THE  FA  MIL  Y  FOR  TUNES.         1 2  7 

he  lived  there,  or  France  would  have  had  an  American 
consort  !  You  may  be  sure  Eugenie  didn't  hear  this  pretty 
speech,  or  she  would  not  have  ordered  madame,  the  Duchess 
de  Persigny,  to  bring  the  little  American  and  present  her. 
The  Empress  was  so  charmed  by  her  sprightliness,  wit  and 
modesty  that  she  commanded  her  chamberlain,  in  Theo's 
hearing,  to  put  mademoiselle's  name  down  for  the  fetes  at 
St.  Cloud  ! 

It  was  by  a  stroke  of  dazzling  adroitness  that  the  witch 
won  the  Empress  wholly.  She  had,  by  order  of  the  cham 
berlain,  accompanied  a  beautiful  New  Orleans  girl  to  an 
imperial  reception  at  the  Tuileries.  All  Paris  was  agog  over 
r Americaine  s  beauty  and  wealth,  "  a  cotton  princess,"  as 
Pigaro  wickedly  nicknamed  her.  She  was  an  orphan  and  in 
Paris  with  a  guardian  to  settle  an  estate.  Her  life  was 
made  miserable  by  adventurers  writing  her  their  readiness 
to  make  her  a  princess,  a  queen,  if  she  would  but  grant  an 
interview.  She  was  very  much  amused  with  Theo,  and  had 
made  her  something  like  a  confidant.  She  was  partly  French 
through  her  grandmother,  as  well  as  by  her  father,  who, 
though  born  in  New  Orleans,  was  of  a  noble  French  family, 
the  De  la  Fleches  of  Blois.  Even  in  the  stately  throng  of 
princes,  dukes,  marshals  and  noblemen  of  every  rank  and 
nation,  the  two  Americans  were  not  obscure. 

Theo,  though  not  so  stately  as  her  companion,  was  a 
perfect  picture  of  demure  feminine  loveliness.  She  knew 
many  of  the  young  noblemen,  and  the  friends  were  soon  at 
their  ease — though  the  reception  was  to  the  kings  visiting 
Paris  at  the  close  of  the  Exhibition.  As  they  sat  watching 
the  gorgeous  figures  in  groups  in  the  magnificent  salon  of 
the  ambassadors,  a  young  man  in  the  full  court  costume, 
with  dazzling  stars  on  his  breast  and  the  broad  ribbon  of 
the  legion  of  honor,  came  forward  and  bowed  low  before 
Theo.  She  flushed  with  pleasure,  and  turning  from  her 
companion  as  she  rose,  said  : 

"  Monsieur  le  prince,  I  thought  you  were  in  Baden.     I  am 


128  TRAJAN. 

enchanted  to  see  you  here  " — then,  speaking  to  I'Americaine, 
she  added  :  "  May  I  take  the  liberty  of  presenting  to  you 
my  brother's  friend,  the  Prince  d'Amboise — Mademoiselle 
de  la  Fleche  ?  Have  you  been  carrying  your  wicked  con 
quests  into  the  Palatinate,  since  we  saw  you  ;  my  brother 
tells  me  all  the  opera  folks  are  in  mourning  when  you  leave 
town.  Did  you  leave  Baden-Baden  draped  in  black,  or 
was  there  a  mingling  of  rouge  et  noir." 

"  Mafoi,  Mademoiselle  Theo,  you  American  misses  have 
a  charming  boldness  of  attack.  What  could  a  modest  man 
say  to  such  an  indictment  ?" 

"  A  modest  man  would  find  an  answer  very  simple — the 
question  is,  what  can  a  wicked  one  like  the  Prince  d'Amboise, 
who  glories  in  his  wickedness,  say  ?  "  laughed  Theo,  maf- 
iciously. 

"  Ah,  as  for  that,  if  my  colors  are  struck  I  must  not 
defend,  but  I  implore  grace." 

At  that  moment  the  Empress,  accompanied  by  a  brilliant 
bevy  of  dames,  halted  just  before  Theo  and  the  prince. 
Beckoning  the  former  with  a  little  gesture,  she  said  some 
what  petulantly,  as  Theo  stood  courtseying  before  her  : 

"  Mademoiselle  has  forgotten  Pere  Barodet,  in  her 
anxiety  to  show  Mademoiselle  de  la  Fleche  the  gayeties  of 
Paris."  While  speaking  she  had  signified  her  pleasure  that  the 
last  named  lady  should  approach. 

Theo  looking  the  imperial  lady  modestly  in  the  face,  re 
plied  without  an  instant's  hesitation  :  "  Pardon,  your  Maj 
esty.  Madame  la  Princesse  de  Metternich  will  convince 
you  that  I  have  not  forgotten  your  majesty's  wishes.  If  f 
dared  take  the  liberty,  I  would  ask  your  majesty  to  bear 
Mademoiselle  de  la  Fleche  in  kind  memory,  for,  thanks  to 
her  generosity,  Pere  Barodet  now  has  the  ten  thousand 
francs  needed  to  put  up  the  memorial  altar.  The  check  will 
be  in  the  good  father's  hands  by  the  morning  post." 

As  Theo  uttered  this  indomitable  fib,  she  stole  a  warning 
glance  at  the  amazed  beauty.  The  Empress  smiled  sweetly 


THEO    REVIVES  THE  FAMILY  FORTUNES.       129 

on  the  latter  and  gave  her  the  imperial  hand,  which  the 
heiress  kissed  timidly,  blushing  and  confused. 

"  Mademoiselle,  you  have  made  me  your  friend  ;  the  Pere 
Barodet  is  the  model  of  a  good  pastor.  Piety  like  yours  will 
not  go  without  recognition."  Saying  this,  the  Empress, 
turning  to  Madame  Metternich,  said  archly  : 

"  Madame  la  Princesse,  'twould  be  a  shame  to  have  so 
good  a  Catholic  and  so  beautiful  a  girl  lost  to  France.  Can 
we  not  devise  some  means  of  keeping  mademoiselle  where 
good  and  generous  Catholics  are  so  much  needed  ?  " 

" K\\,pour  fa  majeste"  responded  the  gay  princess  in  her 
funny  German  mixture  of  French,  "  mademoiselle  is  very 
hard  to  please,  apparently.  She  has  been  turning  the  heads 
of  all  our  beaux  gar $ons,  who  complain  of  her  as  cruel.  She 
has  left  some  cavalier  in  the  sunny  Louisiana,  and  has  no 
eyes  for  our  melancholy  beaux." 

The  Empress  fixed  her  eyes  on  the  young  girl,  who  blushed 
to  a  crimson  loveliness,  that  sent  a  pang  of  envy  into 
the  rouged  dowagers,  who,  unable  to  distinguish  the  words 
of  the  conversation,  could  not  imagine  why  the  young  lady 
was  throwing  out  these  signals  with  no  convoy  any  where  in 
sight.  "  This  will  never  do,  mademoiselle,"  said  the  Em 
press,  gayly  tapping  her  shoulder  with  the  lace  of  her  fan. 
"  Beauty  like  yours  deserves  a  court  for  a  setting  ;  you  must 
be  a  duchess  at  least."  Turning  to  Theo,  who  had  been 
permitted  to  remain  near  enough  to  hear  this  pretty  comedy, 
the  Empress  continued  :  "  Pere  Barodet  has  told  me  of  your 
devotion  to  St.  Philippe  de  Raoul.  I  shall  never  have  any 
thing  but  an  indulgent  ear  for  any  thing  you  may  wish  to  say 
to  me." 

The*o  bent  with  a  deep  reverence,  as  the  Princess  de  Met 
ternich,  smiling  significantly,  followed  the  imperial  lady  to  the 
dais  where  the  majesties  were  to  be  received. 

"  My  dear,  I  have  made  the  Empress  your  friend  for  life. 
What  an  inspiration  that  check  was.  You  must  give  me 
credit  for  some  presence  of  mind  to  find  such  an  invention 
9 


130  TRAJAN. 

on  the  spur  of  the  moment,"  and  Theo  looked  at  her  silent 
companion  in  reproach. 

"  It  was  a  piece  of  most  unheard  of  " — Miss  La  Fleche 
seemed  to  have  impudence  on  the  end  of  her  tongue,  but 
thinking  better  of  it,  said  coldly — "  audacity.  You  frighten 
me  with  your  readiness  for  intrigue.  Such  a  gift  will  ruin  you 
unless  you  curb  it.  I  shall  not  in  this  case  bring  you  into 
discredit,  by  withholding  the  check  to  Pere  Barodet  ;  but 
Theo,  my  dear,  I  have  an  American  prejudice  against  being 
fleeced  even  for  the  church." 

"  Oh,  very  well,  if  you  don't  care  to  pay  it,  I  can.  I  was 
thinking  of  your  interest,  not  my  own,  when  I  said  it.  Of 
course  if  you  look  upon  it  as  a — a — fleecing,  I  will  pay  it 
myself." 

Theo  began  to  study  the  gorgeous  costumes  about  the 
great  chamber. 

"  Don't  talk  nonsense,  child.  Of  course  I  understand 
well  enough  :  with  your  French  notions  you  think  no 
amount  of  money  ill  spent  that  wins  the  favor  of  the  sov 
ereign.  There  I  don't  agree  with  you  ;  I  don't  think  it  a  good 
investment,  as  papa  used  to  say,  and,  furthermore,  I  like  to 
do  my  own  giving." 

"  But  don't  you  understand  that  there  are  scores  of 
princely  persons  who  would  part  with  half  their  fortune  to 
leave  such  a  souvenir  with  the  Empress.  It  was  not  the 
money  that  gratified  Eugenie.  It  was  the  proof  that  a 
stranger  had  appreciated  her  favorite  preacher." 

"  This  is  worse  and  worse,"  exclaimed  Miss  La  Fleche, 
who  looked  at  Theo  in  shocked  surprise.  "  If  I  stand  well 
with  the  lady,  it  will  be  through  a  fraud,  for  the  very  motive 
that  makes  the  gift  of  value  is  wanting.  I  don't  care-a  straw 
for  Pere  Barodet.  I'm  afraid  your  conscience  has  been 
warped  by  your  French  association." 

Miss  La  Fleche  was  an  old  school-fellow  and  could  talk 
with  freedom  to  the  astonished  Theo,  who  looked  on  her  in 
good-humored  surprise. 


THEO    REVIVES  THE  FAMILY  FORTUNES.       131 

At  this  very  moment,  while  the  pair  were  engaged  in  this 
tiff  on  the  moralities,  a  young  chamberlain  stepped  in  front 
of  them  and  bowing  obsequiously,  said  : 

"  Her  Majesty  commands  me  to  inform  les  demoiselles  de 
la  Fleche  and  Carnot  that  they  are  expected  to  join  the  im 
perial  suite  near  her  majesty.  I  shall  have  the  honor  to  con 
duct  the  demoiselles." 

Theo  radiant  with  this  new  mark  of  royal  favor, 
pressed  her  companion's  arm  significantly,  as  they  set  out 
through  the  crowd,  which  had  now  become  a  crush,  behind 
the  young  man.  They  followed  him  across  the  glittering 
floor,  a  thousand  lights  dazzling  them  from  the  pyramids  of 
crystal  candelabra  overhead,  the  glories  of  France  looking 
down  on  them  from  the  priceless  panels  on  which  the  pencil 
of  Paul  Vernet  had  set  the  lineaments  of  marshals,  generals, 
admirals  and  statesmen.  Theo  wondered  what  their  imper 
ial  patron  could  want  with  them.  But  the  intoxicating  sense 
of  importance  inspired  in  the  mere  message,  that  she,  Theo 
Carnot,  the  bankrupt's  daughter,  was  enjoying  an  honor  and 
privilege  that  half  \hzparvenus  in  Paris  toiled  and  schemed 
in  vain  to  obtain,  gave  a  gleam  to  her  eye  and  a  flush  to  her 
olive  cheek,  that  made  many  a  bejeweled,  bestarred,  and 
emblazoned  bigwig  turn  with  a  start  of  surprise,  to  examine 
the  exquisite  figure. 

As  they  advanced,  always  led  by  the  young  courtier,  reg 
ulating  his  steps  in  respectful  obedience  to  the  difficulties  of 
their  progress,  the  salons  became  less  crowded.  The  per 
sonages  seemed  to  blaze  more  resplendentlyin  the  stars  and 
regalia  of  the  empire.  The  ministers  of  Europe  were  named 
to  them  by  their  guide  as  they  passed.  Princes  and  marshals 
of  the  empires  of  France,  Austria,  Russia,  and  the  kingdom  of 
Prussia.  Cardinals  and  archbishops  mingled  in  the  stately 
groups.  The  conversation  which  broke  out  in  a  loud  hum 
in  the  distant  apartment,  was  here  stilled  to  a  low  murmur. 

The  next  moment  the  two  young  ladies  passed  on  to 
the  reception-room  of  the  Empress.  Here  the  walls,  like 


132  TRAJAN, 

• 

the  others,  were  lustrous  with  gold,  and  the  panels  covered 
with  oil  paintings.  Though  the  apartment  was  spacious, 
it  was  at  the  moment  well  filled,  and  lost  its  fine  propor 
tions.  Most  of  the  throng  were  ladies  in  dazzling  attire, 
with  a  sprinkling  of  gentlemen,  somewhat  less  gorgeous  than 
their  brethren  in  the  other  rooms.  The  young  man  who 
had  conducted  the  friends  thither  left  them,  and  approached 
a  lady  standing  behind  the  chair  of  the  Empress,  whom 
Theo  recognized  as  the  Duchess  de  Mouchy.  The  duchess 
smiled  and  whispered  to  her  mistress.  She  bent  her  head 
slightly  without  interrupting  the  conversation. 

Madame  de  Mouchy  spoke  to  the  young  man.  He  bowed 
and  returned  to  the  young  ladies,  who  stood  lost  in  contem 
plation  of  the  scene  and  its  beautiful  mistress.  Eugenie  was 
at  that  time  in  the  prime  of  her  mature  beauty.  Theo 
wondered  at  the  fairness  and  transparency  of  her  com 
plexion,  brought  into  vivid  relief  rather  than  diminished  by 
the  coils  of  russet-gold  hair  heaped  upon  her  stately  head. 
Theo,  who  had  a  woman's  eye  for  detail,  further  remarked 
that  her  neck  and  the  corsage  of  pale  green  blazed  with  the 
crown  diamonds,  the  famous  Pitt  glistening  at  the  point  of  a 
dark  oblique  stomacher,  and  almost  veiled  in  the  rich  laces, 
through  which  it  gleamed  like  a  swarm  of  dewdrops  under  the 
harvest  moon.  The  guide  interrupted  Theo's  reflections  by  a 
message  from  Madame  de  Mouchy,  that  they  should  not  quit 
the  salon  until  they  had  received  another  message  from  her. 


CHAPTER  X. 

A    FRIEND    AT    COURT. 

THEO   and  her  friend  were  left  to  study  the  novel  picture 
the  scene  presented.     Entirely  ignorant  of  court  cere 
monial, — for  Theo.  had  most  strangely  neglected  to  inform 
herself  before  coming — they  had  only  the  vaguest  notion  of 
what  they  saw. 


A  FRIEND  AT  COURT.  133 

Like  his  uncle,  Napoleon  III.  exacted  the  most  rigorous 
etiquette  in  the  palace — a  single  button  awry  on  a  uniform, 
an  untimely  gesture,  would  disgrace  the  delinquent  for  a 
month.  If  at  a/<?te  or  reception  the  Emperor  or  Empress 
honored  a  guest  by  a  word,  all  the  rest  of  the  company  fell 
back  out  of  earshot.  It  was  this  which  surprised  Theo  when 
the  Empress  had  summoned  herself  and  Miss  de  la  Fleche 
early  in  the  evening.  She  would  have  been  infinitely  grati 
fied  if  all  the  maids  of  honor,  the  great  dames  and  dowagers, 
could  have  heard  the  words  of  the  imperial  patroness,  for 
she  knew  they  would  be  the  topic  of  every  salon  before  the 
week  was  out.  All  this  was  to  aid  Jules.  For  herself,  she 
argued,  she  didn't  much  relish  this  splendor,  hollow,  mean 
ingless,  depraved.  Her  reflections  were  interrupted  by  a 
movement  where  the  Empress  sat.  The  ladies  arose,  and  a 
page  going  in  front  to  warn  the  guests,  the  imperial  hostess 
set  out  for  the  dancing-hall.  She  addressed  most  of  the 
personages  by  name,  as  they  arose  and  inclined  respectfully 
before  her.  When  near  the  doorway,  the  Prince  d'Amboise 
entered,  apparently  in  search  of  somebody.  He  almost  met 
the  Empress  face  to  face.  As  she  saw  him,  she  raised  her 
fan  playfully,  exclaiming  : 

"  Ah,  Monsieur  d'Amboise,  you  are  caught ;  since  when 
has  it  become  en  regie  for  a  prince  to  forget  his  promises  ?" 

"  De  grace,  your  majesty,  even  piety  and  promises  must 
give  way  to  ill-health.  I  am  but  just  returned  from  Baden- 
Baden  for  the  fete,  though  forbidden  by  the  medical  tyrants, 
who  now  rule  the  House  of  Amboise,"  said  the  prince,  in  gay 
deprecation  of  the  imperial  reproach. 

"  Very  good,  Monsieur  d'Amboise  ;  you  shall  now  do 
penance  for  past  sins.  At  the  fete  of  St.  Cloud,  on  Tuesday 
next,  you  shall  be  cavalier  to  a  charming  demoiselle,  to  whom 
I  am  about  to  present  you  ;  attend  !  " 

The  young  man  fell  into  the  train,  engaging  in  conversa 
tion  with  Madame  le  Breton,  the  familiar  attendant  of  the 
Empress.  On  arriving  near  Theo  and  Miss  de  la  Fleche, 


134  TRAJAN. 

the  Empress,  by  a  gesture,  commanded  their  approach  ;  then, 
without  turning,  directed  the  prince  to  come  forward.  Look 
ing  archly  at  the  heiress,  the  imperial  match-maker  said  : 

"  Mademoiselle,  I  have  brought  this  scapegrace  to  you 
for  reformation — Monsieur  le  Prince  d'Amboise4." 

The  two  bowed  as  if  they  had  never  met  before  and  the 
Empress  continued  :  "  Our  young  ladies  have  failed  in  every 
attempt  to  reform  him.  See  what  your  American  art  can  do. 
He  is  a  tres  mauvais  sujet,  I  assure  you,  and  will  require 
strong  measures."  She  smiled  pleasantly  at  the  by  no  means 
abashed  nobleman,  and,  turning  to  Theo  added  graciously  : 

"  Mademoiselle  Carnot,  we  shall  expect  to  see  you  at  the 
fete,  at  St.  Cloud,  Tuesday,  with  Mademoiselle  de  la  Fleche," 
and  passed  away,  a  vision  of  power  and  beauty. 

Theo  rehearsed  the  wonders  of  this  night  of  triumph 
many  a  day  after.  It  made  her  a  marked  social  force  in  the 
self-seeking  mobs  that  depended  on  imperial  favor  for  a 
thousand  schemes  of  aggrandizement.  Its  influence  remained 
with  Theo  long  after  the  kind  lady  who  had  shown  her 
so  much  favor  had  been  driven  from  the  scene  of  her 
grandeur  and  was  forgotten  by  all  upon  whom  she  had 
lavished  her  generosity.  The  event  brought  gold  as  well  as 
glory,  for  no  sooner  was  the  little  American's  standing  at 
court  made  known  in  the  piquant  gossip  of  the  Chroniques 
than  mysterious  gifts  came  from  all  sides,  the  donors  asking 
merely  for  the  privilege  of  her  acquaintance.  It  helped  her 
business,  too. 

There  were  few  Americans,  of  the  sort  that  made  Paris 
their  headquarters,  who  could  resist  worship  of  a  star  moving 
in  such  a  dazzling  orbit.  Nor  was  the  triumph  without  its 
value  to  Jules.  He  was  taken  up  by  the  rich  young  nabobs. 
The  desire  of  his  life  for  horses  and  equipage  was  gratified 
within  a  week  after  Theo's  standing  at  court  became  known. 
He  was  made  a  lion  by  the  sons  of  the  rich  American  resi 
dents,  who,  with  the  extraordinary  instinct  of  our  race,  very 
soon  discovered  that  he  was  not  rich.  They  devised  scores 


A  FRIEND  AT  COURT.  135 

of  unobtrusive  ways  of  filling  his  exchequer  without  leaving 
a  wound  to  his  amour  propre.  One  young  man,  the  son  of 
a  pushing  matron  from  Montana,  with  an  inexplicable  mania 
for  court  life  and  the  association  of  grandees,  Washington 
Lafayette  Grovel,  called  "  Lafe  "  for  short  by  his  familiars, 
actually  forced  bets  on  the  admired  intimate  of  courtiers,  as 
a  pretext  to  fill  his  purse  to  the  amount  of  thousands  of 
dollars. 

Others  pretended  to  wage  baccarat  with  him  and  left  all 
the  winnings  in  his  hands,  by  clumsiness  in  play,  in  humorous 
contrast  with  their  skill  when  contesting  with  each  other. 
It  literally  rained  gold  into  the  receptacles  of  the  genius  of 
Rue  Galilee,  and  the  house  became  too  small  for  the  levees 
held  day  after  day,  merely  to  receive  the  cards  of  the  throng 
that  coveted  acquaintance  with  the  friend  of  the  sovereign, 
as  Theo  was  regarded  by  her  envying  and  admiring  com 
patriots.  All  this  adulation  was  turned  to  the  best  account, 
where  Theo  sagaciously  divined  that  Jules'  interests  lay. 
Jules,  as  the  indispensable  companion  of  the  rich  young 
nabobs  from  over  the  sea,  was  missed  and  mourned  in  the 
exclusive  circles  of  the  Faubourg,  where  his  vogue  among 
the  millionaires,  as  all  Americans  were  held  to  be,  made  a 
great  impression.  He  was  seen  in  the  choice  boxes  at  the 
opera  ;  in  sumptuous  equipages  in  the  Bois.  His  name  was 
paraded  in  all  the  costly  revels  of  the  foreign  magnates,  at 
the  ministerial  receptions,  and  in  places  where  rank  and  birth 
alone  are  found.  Discussing  the  fairy  transformation  in 
their  fortunes,  Jules  said  one  day,  as  he  and  Theo  sat  alone 
in  the  pretty  salon  of  the  Rue  Galilee  : 

"  If  the  fortunes  of  the  family  are  ever  restored,  ma  chtre, 
the  prodigy  will  be  your  work  ;  the  rest  of  us  will  be  as 
little  in  it  as  the  globules  of  water  that  pass  between  the 
mill  wheel  and  the  wall,  evading  the  stream  that  turns  the 
wheel." 

That  sagacious  young  person  smiled  fondly  on  the  hand 
some  eulogist  and  shook  her  head.  "  If  I  had  only  been 


136  TRAJAK. 

born  a  man,  all  things  would  be  possible.  Then  I  might 
really  do  something.  But  a  woman — tied  hand  and  foot,  to 
all  the  stupidities  !  It  makes  me  insane  sometimes  when  I 
see  how  easily  success  might  be  won,  if  I  were  only  a  man." 
Then,  as  she  saw  a  humorous  expression  on  her  brother's 
face,  she  added  apologetically  :  "  Not  that  you  aren't  worth 
a  dozen  ordinary  men,  but  you  have  too  much  sensitiveness  ; 
you  are  too  conscientious  ;  you  have  that  most  useless 'of  all 
mental  baggage — scruples.  You  must  learn  to  ignore  them. 
It's  the  only  rule  for  a  real  success,  I  assure  you  !  I  wish  I 
were  a  man,  all  the  same,  that  I  might  be  by  your  side  all 
the  time." 

"  Why,  my  dear,  what  could  you  do  if  you  were  a  man 
more  than  you  are  doing  ?  Indeed,  I  think  it  very  fortunate 
that  you  are  not  one.  I  am  quite  satisfied  that  you  are  a 
woman  and  very  proud  that  you  are  my  sister,"  and  he 
kissed  her  hand  gallantly.  He  was  greatly  surprised  by  the 
bitterness  in  his  sister's  voice,  for  Theo's  strong  point  was 
invariable  good-humor  and  unrestrained  gayety. 

"Do?"  she  repeated,  dreamily t  looking  out  on  the 
crowds  ;  "  I  would  make  men  tremble  and  women — adore 
me — in  vain,"  she  added  with  a  mocking  little  laugh. 

"Yes,  but  it  doesn't  help  one  along  much  to  make  men 
tremble  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  would  make  them  avoid  one  ; 
and  as  for  the  adoration  of  women,  any  empty  head  can 
bring  that  about.  No,  my  dear,  the  trembling  is  a  bad 
means  to  an  end  ;  it  drives  the  lambs  away,  and  when  they 
are  timid  and  when  they  are  in  flight,  it's  a  bad  time  for 
shearing!  " 

Up  to  the  evening  of  the  fete  at  St.  Cloud,  to  which  the 
imperial  hostess  had  herself  bidden  Theo,  the  house  on  the 
Rue  Galilee  resembled  the  palace  vestibule.  Rumor  had 
invested  the  little  American  with  carte  blanche  for  the  event, 
and  a  crush  of  carriages  blocked  the  street  from  early  morn 
ing  until  sunset.  Great  ladies,  who  would  never  have 
dreamed  of  climbing  a  stair  in  their  own  lordly  palaces  in 


A  FRIEND  AT  COURT.  137 

New  York  or  Boston,  tripped  anxiously  up  to  Theo's  fourth- 
floor  boudoir,  bearing  their  own  letters  of  presentation  from 
common  friends.  The  invasion  became  an  inundation,  and 
the  exhausted  young  woman  was  compelled  to  seclude  her 
self  in  the  convent  to  escape  the  burden  of  greatness  thrust 
upon  her.  To  some  she  gave  notes  of  presentation  to  the 
grand  chamberlain  and  to  the  Duchess  de  Mouchy.  But 
she  told  every  one  quite  frankly  that  she  really  was  the 
humblest  guest  expected  at  the  feast.  "  Such  charming 
modesty  !  "  declared  every  body.  "  She  deserves  the  good 
fortune  that  has  come  to  her." 

For  once  there  was  no  exaggeration  in  the  phrase  "  all 
Paris."  The  whole  town  was  talking  of  the  wonderful  fete 
that  was  to  conclude  the  festivities  invented  for  the  sov 
ereigns  visiting  France.  The  novelty  of  the  event  was  to  be 
a  bal  masque  in  which  no  one  would  be  admitted  without 
costume.  For  months  the  tailors  and  modistes  had  been 
preparing  sumptuous  apparel.  When  the  scene  was  set  at 
ten  o'clock,  the  journals  declared  that  nothing  so  dazzling 
had  ever  been  witnessed,  even  in  the  magnificent  pageantries 
that  had  marked  Napoleon's  reign. 

Theo,  in  the  garb  of  a  vestal,  accompanied  by  Miss  de  la 
Fleche  as  Cleopatra,  arrived  early  to  study  the  people  and 
the  place.  The  Chateau  of  St.  Cloud  was  a  blaze  of  light, 
and  the  gardens  a  fairy  scene  of  enchanted  illumination. 
The  spectacle  was  witnessed  by  thousands,  who  lingered  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne, 
until  long  after  midnight.  The  dancing  did  not  end  until 
seven  in  the  morning.  The  Emperor,  in  a  plain  black 
domino,  arrived  among  the  merry-makers  at  ten  o'clock 
precisely.  The  Empress,  who  had  been  announced  as 
Diana,  the  huntress,  to  every  body's  surprise  appeared  also  in 
a  plain  pink  domino  and  lace  mask.  She  was  attended 
throughout  the  evening  by  one  cavalier  in  the  gorgeous  cos 
tume  of  the  Magyar  knights,  whom  every  one  recognized  as 
Prince  Metternich.  Theo  had  been  asked  to  dance  by  a 


138  TRAJAN. 

mask  in  the  glittering  costume  of  a  medieval  Venetian,  and 
as  they  moved  through  the  throng,  he  pointed  out  the 
celebrities.  In  the  quadrille,  the  partner  of  her  vis  a  vis 
attracted  general  wonder.  A  tall  figure,  with  skin  as  red  as 
an  Indian,  wearing  a  garment  of  filmy  lace,  curiously  fast 
ened  with  rare  and  precious  stones.  '  That,"  whispered 
Theo's  cavalier,  "  is  the  cousin  of  the  Emperor — the  Prin 
cess  Mathilda,  the  patroness  of  the  Bohemians  and  the 
despair  of  the  Empress.  The  pretty  figure  in  the  next  set 
— the  shepherdess  dancing  with  the  knight  of  the  griffin — 
is  the  Princess  Clotilde,  daughter  of  Victor  Emanuel  and 
wife  of  Plon-Plon.  Plon-Plon  himself  is  dancing  in  the  set 
vis  a  vis  the  Emperor,  in  a  blue  domino." 

At  eleven  o'clock  Theo  was  warned  to  be  in  place  to  see 
the  famous  quadrille  arranged  for  the  fete  by  the  poet 
Gautier,  "  Puss  in  Boots."  As  she  stood  there  all  the 
characters  of  the  legend  darted  out  from  all  sorts  of 
nooks  where  they  had  been  cunningly  concealed.  The 
apartment  represented  the  fairy  dell  of  Queen  Mab,  and 
the  graceful  figures  performed  the  parts  so  well  that  they 
were  forced  to  repeat.  Then  followed  a  Venetian  carnival, 
the  personages  all  costumed  in  keeping  with  the  legendary 
traditions  of  that  motley  fable.  As  Theo  stood  lost  in 
admiration  a  slender  monk  in  the  order  of  the  Jesuits  came 
up  to  her.  It  was  Jules.  He  had  come  to  put  her  up  to 
playing  a  little  comedy  on  an  American  friend  recently 
arrived  in  the  city. 

"But  who  is  it?"  asked  she,  not  enthusiastic  at  the 
prospect. 

"  Elliot  Arden — Kent's  cousin." 

Theo  started,  and  it  was  well  that  the  mask  covered 
her  face. 

"  Elliot  Arden  ? — tell  me  about  him.  How  is  he  Kent's 
cousin  ?  I  thought  the  Kents  had  no  male  members,  out 
side  of  Philip,  in  the  younger  generation." 

"Ah,  it  is  a  family  story  of  a  complicated  sort — too  long 


A  FRIEND  A  T  COURT.  139 

to  tell  here  ;  but  you  can  have  a  great  deal  of  fun  with 
Arden.  He  is  young  and  handsome  as  an  erl-king,  with 
big  blue  eyes  and  almost  flaxen  hair — " 

"  Ugh  !  "  exclaimed  Theo,  "  just  the  combination  I  detest ! 
But  how  shall  I  recognize  him  ? " 

"  There  he  is — as  Lohengrin,  the  Knight  of  the  Grail. 
You  can  mystify  him  beautifully  if  you're  in  the  spirit 
-go!" 

And  Jules  glided  away  laughing,  watching  Theo  as  she 
made  her  way  to  the  slender  figure  in  silvery  doublet  and 
long  flaxen  hair,  wandering  among  the  incognito  royalties 
on  the  scene.  She  followed  him  for  a  moment  in  uncer 
tainty,  then  boldly  placing  herself  before  the  shining  figure, 
said,  in  German  : 

"  Is  the  Knight  of  the  Swan  seeking  Elsa  of  Brabant  !  " 

Lohengrin  looked  down  at  the  demure  Vestal,  catching 
only  a  gleam  of  yellowish  green  through  the  eyelets  of  the 
mask.  He  was  clearly  perplexed,  for  the  voice,  while  unfa 
miliar,  gave  a  peculiar  intonation  of  knowingness  that 
convinced  him  that  the  person  knew  his  name. 

"  Elsa  lost  her  swan-knight  by  too  much  curiosity.  Shall 
you  vanish  if  I  seek  to  know  who  you  are,  whence  you  came, 
and  the  name  you  bear  ?"  As  he  asked  these  questions  he 
offered  his  shining  arm  to  the  Vestal.  As  she  took  it  they 
passed  on  slowly  through  the  bewildering  scene. 

"  Yes  ;  curiosity  like  this  ill-befits  a  knightly  spirit  ; 
enough  to  know  that  I  am  an  oracle  and  can  presage  your 
future,  or  set  you  on  the  path  of  glory." 

"Well,  well,"  laughed  the  other,  "  this  is  wonderful;  I 
was  just  sighing  for  a  good  spirit  to  lead  me  safely  through 
this  maze  of  magnificence,  and  lo,  here  is  an  enchantress 
to  give  me  the  chart  of  life.  To  begin,  what  is  my  name  ?  " 

"  Elliot  Arden." 

"  My  pursuit  ?  " 

"  Student  in  law  in  the  6cole  de  Droit  ;  entered  last 
month." 


140  TRAJAN. 

"  Ambition  ?" 

"  A  great  jurist  and  statesman." 

"  That's  rather  easy  ;  where  is  the  American  that  hasn't 
that  ambition  ?  "  laughed  Lohengrin.  "  But  now,  Madame 
Oracle,  you  have  answered  questions  that  any  one  might 
solve  ;  put  on  your  divination  symbols  and  tell  me,"  and 
his  voice  sank  into  mock  seriousness,  "  is  the  student  in 
law  to  become  the  profound  jurist,  the  jurist  the  successful 
statesman — the  paragon  to  win  in  love,  or  be  a  heartbroken 
wreck  ? " 

The  arm  within  his  trembled  slightly  as  the  Vestal  replied  : 

"  In  statecraft  and  war  the  Ardens  are  ruled  by  a  propi 
tiatory  planet  ;  in  love  they  are  faithless  and  can  expect  no 
faith." 

The  knight  halted  so  suddenly  that  his  mask  partly  fell, 
and  the  girl  could  see  his  face  was  flushed  and  his  eyes  wide 
open  in  wonder. 

"  Ton  my  faith,  Mistress  Oracle,  the  stars  you  read  must 
deceive  you.  No  Arden  I  ever  knew  was  faithless  in  love 
whatever  they  may  have  been  in  war." 

"  An  oracle,  like  a  gas-bill,  is  not  to  be  disputed,  or  the 
light  will  be  cut  off,"  answered  the  Vestal,  with  a  merry 
laugh. 

They  had  continued  moving  during  this  occult  play  of 
wits,  the  knight  evidently  searching  for  some  one.  At  this 
moment  he  hurried  the  vestal  rather  abruptly  toward  a 
figure  representing  Prospero  in  his  wizard  garb. 

"  I  say,  Phil,"  said  Lohengrin,  in  a  tone  his  companion 
was  not  expected  to  catch,  "  here's  the  drollest  thing  ;  some 
one  who  knows  me  !  "  Then  aloud  :  "  Now  if  you  be  an 
oracle,  match  your  power  against  this  adept  in  sorcery,  the 
master  of  Ariel  and  inventor  of  pranks,  the  lord  of  the  isle 
and  tormentor  of  Caliban.  Conjurer  of  cloud-capped 
towers  and  palaces,  more  airy,  though  not  less  magnificent, 
than  this,  I  present  you,  comrades  in  a  common  craft,  Sor 
cery."  Prospero  gravely  bowed,  leaning  on  his  wand  ;  the 


A  FRIEND  AT  COURT.  141 

Vestal  merely  bent  her  head.  Lohengrin  continued  in  a 
tone  of  raillery  :  "  The  oracle  declares  that  the  Ardens  are 
faithless  in  love,  and  will  find  no  faith.  What  say  you, 
great  Prospero  ? " 

"  The  oracle  should  perhaps  have  said  some  Ardens  are 
faithless,"  said  the  Vestal,  the  gleam  through  the  eyelet 
directed  toward  her  rival. 

The  wizard  personage  started  visibly  as  the  voice  fell  on 
his  ear,  but  it  was  the  words  not  the  tone  that  he  seemed  to 
be  struck  with.  He  made  no  answer  and  Lohengrin  said, 
in  evident  surprise  : 

"  That's  better.  It  leaves  me  a  hope  that,  as  there  are 
exceptions  to  the  rule  of  faithlessness  in  the  Ardens,  I  may 
escape  the  doom  you  prophesy — " 

"  Come  to  me  when  you  are  in  love  and  I  will  tell  you," 
responded  the  Vestal. 

"  But  where  shall  I  seek  you  ?  where  are  your  altars  ? 
what  devotions  are  acceptable  to  you  ?  what  is  the  penalty 
for  looking  on  the  oracle's  face  ?  "  and  he  made  a  gesture  as 
if  to  snatch  away  the  mask. 

Theo  shrank  back  out  of  reach,  and  with  a  penitent 
motion  the  knight  implored  absolution.  Then  she  made 
answer  : 

"  When  you  are  in  love  I  shall  answer  these  questions  ; 
when  you  are  in  love  I  shall  be  near  you  to  keep  the  course 
smooth,"  and  she  laughed  musically  and,  to  the  young  man, 
maddeningly. 

"  What,  has  Prospero  been  struck  dumb  ? "  asked  the 
knight.  "  Do  his  powers  pale  before  the  priestess  of  Aphro 
dite  ?  Has  Ariel  quit  him  ?  Is  Caliban  in  the  ascendant  ? 
Has  his  spirit  suffered  change  into  something  dull  and 
strange  ?  " 

But  at  this  moment  the  music,  which  had  been  stilled  for 
a  few  moments,  fell  upon  their  ears,  so  soft,  sensuous  and 
entrancing — the  waltz  movement  of  Undine — that  as  if  by 
one  impulse  the  Knight  and  Vestal  fell  into  each  other's 


142  TRAJAN. 

arms  and  moved  off  in  a  gliding  motion  among  the  shrubbery 
and  ferns  set  for  the  Undine  quadrille,  an  enchanting  elfin 
drama  in  dance  and  music,  the  talk  of  Paris  to  this  day. 
Leading  the  goblin  host  came  a  figure  literally  clothed  in 
jewels  ;  upon  her  head  a  glistening  net-work  of  diamonds, 
blinding  in  brilliancy  ;  this  again  surmounted  by  conch  of 
opals  and  amethysts. 

"  Who  is  that  wonderful  being  ?  "  asked  Lohengrin  of  the 
Vestal. 

But  her  oracular  powers  could  not  be  summoned  to  answer, 
and  an  Oberon  at  his  elbow  replied  : 

"  It  is  the  Countess  Walewski,  wife  of  the  son  of  Napoleon 
First  and  the  Princess  Walewski.  The  figure  represents 
Undine  ;  the  one  by  her  side,  with  the  parachute  of  dia 
monds  covering  her  head,  diamond  wings  and  silver  pennons, 
is  the  Countess  de  Morny,  representing  Air.  The  lurid  per 
son,  with  flowers  of  burnished  gold  breaking  out  all  over  her, 
is  Fire,  the  daughter  of  Queen  Christina.  The  value  of  the 
costumes  worn  in  this  quadrille  is  so  great  that  the  doors 
have  been  locked  and  the  windows  guarded  until  the  precious 
raiment  can  be  returned  to  the  strong  boxes,  before  a  soul 
will  be  permitted  to  leave  the  room." 

It  was  now  two  o'clock  and  Theo  began  to  look  for  Miss 
de  la  Fleche  to  go  to  supper.  She  was  forced  to  accept  the 
arm  of  the  sighing  Knight,  who  had  exhausted  every  artifice 
to  make  her  reveal  her  face.  They  had  advanced  to  the  end 
of  the  spacious  suite  of  apartments  where,  on  the  sound  of 
a  single  horn,  an  immense  pair  of  curtains,  that  the  shrubbery 
had  partially  hidden  was  drawn  aside,  and  the  startled  throng 
beheld  a  long  vista  of  oriental  magnificence,  stretching  into 
distance  before  them,  a  realization  of  the  Veronese  banquets, 
down  to  the  slender  golden-haired  pages,  the  gold  and  silver 
ewers  and  the  porphyry  columns  buttressing  two  great  bal 
conies,  from  which  the  guests  could  survey  the  scene,  as  the 
Emperor  and  his  royal  guests  sat  down  in  the  first  relay. 

At  the  further  end  of  the  room  a  curtain  was  painted  to 


A  FRIEND  AT  COURT.  143 

represent  a  continuation  of  the  hall,  and  the  spectator,  from 
where  Theo  and  the  Knight  stood,  could  only  detect  the 
illusion  by  the  absence  of  moving  figures.  Fountains  between 
each  of  the  sumptuously  set  tables  showered  purple  and 
crystal  streams  into  silver  basins,  from  which  the  guests  were 
served  the  red  and  white  wines  of  Burgundy  and  Bordeaux. 
The  attendants  were  in  medieval  costumes  like  the  pages, 
and  the  astonishment  of  the  guests  was  so  great  that  for  a 
time  none  descended  the  broad  marble  staircases  leading  to 
the  center  of  this  ambrosial  splendor.  The  Emperor,  who 
had  changed  the  black  domino  of  the  early  part  of  the  even 
ing,  for  a  blue  one,  was  seated  just  below  the  railing  whence 
Theo  and  her  escort  surveyed  this  masterpiece  of  sensuous 
beauty.  Napoleon  was  surrounded  by  his  royal  guests  and 
the  great  ladies  of  the  court,  the  Empress  keeping  up  a  lively 
conversation  with  a  tall  mask,  set  down  as  the  Emperor  of 
Russia  by  the  prattling  gossips  of  the  scene. 

While  the  two  stood  silently  absorbed  in  the  varying  pano 
rama  of  imperial  munificence,  the  Vestal  started  as  a  white- 
gloved  hand  was  laid  on  her  arm.  Turning,  a  Mephis- 
topheles  with  blood-red  plumes,  blood-red  doublet  and  black 
limbs,  stood,  as  the  devil  stands  in  the  garden,  leering  at 
Marguerite  as  she  surveys  the  jewels.  She  almost  lost  self- 
possession  as  she  started  back  with  a  little  scream. 

"  Mademoiselle  does  right  to  assume  the  Vestal.  It  would 
have  been  still  better  had  she  taken  the  silver  circlet  of 
Aphrodite  herself,"  and  the  satanic  personage  bent  low. 
Theo  recognized  the  voice  in  an  instant,  but  she  marveled 
that  he  should  have  penetrated  her  disguise. 

"  How  did  the  princely  eye  find  the  priestess  in  this 
throng  ?  "  she  asked  with  a  voice  quite  different  from  the 
one  she  had  used  in  addressing  Lohengrin. 

"  Ah,  I  see  ;  we  are  quits,"  he  cried.  "  What  more  natu 
ral  than  that  the  prince  of  evil  should  seek  out  the  angel  of 
light  ?  Furthermore,  I  am  charged  by  the  Empress  to  see 
that  her  charming  friends  do  not  lack  for  amusement,  I  am 


144  TRAJAN. 

come  to  lead  you  to  a  high  place  and  explain  to  you  the 
treasures  of  the  kingdoms  of  earth  that  surround  you." 

"Is  this  the  temptation  ? " 

"  If  you  like." 

"  And  if  I  don't  ?  " 

"  Then  it  is  a  tribute  ;  will  you  come  ?  I'm  sure  the 
Knight  of  the  Grail  can  find  another  swan,"  and  he  bowed 
jocularly  to  the  wondering  Lohengrin,  more  puzzled  than 
ever  by  these  flippant  references  to  high  personages  and 
sacred  things. 

"The  Vestal,"  he  said  gallantly,  "  has  a  nobler  mission 
than  upholding  a  single  warrior's  courage,  or  inspiring  his 
arm." 

"  Your  silver  knight  has  a  ready  tongue,  which  rarely  goes 
with  a  strong  arm." 

"  In  the  present  the  ready  tongue  goes  further  than  the 
strong  arm,  monsieur  le prince  "  retorted  Theo  saucily.  "You, 
for  example,  could  not  lift  the  swords  of  your  ancestors,  lin 
ing  the  walls  at  Amboise  ;  but  who,  or  what,  shall  keep  you 
from  filling  the  place  a  Richelieu  or  a  Mazarin,  with  ready 
tongues,  made  impossible  to  the  Comtes  d'Amboise  ?  " 

"  Ma  foi,  mademoiselle,  you  are  a  witch,  not  a  vestal.  What 
bird  Has  whispered  my  ambitions  in  your  ear  ?  " 

"  As  for  that,  it  needs  no  bird  to  tell  any  one  who  sees  the 
prince  and  knows  his  talents,  what  his  future  may  be  if  he 
wills  it.  You  know  you  told  me  certain  things  at  the  Belle- 
chasse  Hotel.  It  was  not  difficult  after  that  to  construct  a 
future." 

"  But  that  was  badinage,  I  assure  you  ;  there  is  nothing  so 
ridiculous  as  the  serious  in  conversation.  I  leave  that  to 
the  English  and  your  unimaginative  American  men." 

"  Seriousness  is  good  in  its  place.  It  was  by  a  prayer,  not 
by  a  laugh,  that  Henri  IV.  got  Paris." 

"  True,  but  I  doubt  the  efficacy  of  prayer  emphatically. 
It  would  take  volumes  to  tell  the  triumphs  of  a  laugh,  from 
Democritus,  who  laughed  himself  to  the  head  of  Greek  phil- 


A  FRIEND  AT  COURT.  145 

osophy,  to  Moliere,  who  laughed  the  stage  into  an  equality 
with  the  pulpit.  Then,  too,  the  place  of  prayer  is  in  the 
closet,  and  we  can't  conquer  the  world  in  the  closet." 

"  Many  men  have.  Indeed,  I  don't  know  any  who  can 
boast  conquest  who  ever  conquered  otherwise  !  " 

"  But  aren't  we  falling  into  rather  abstruse  talk  for  a  ball 
room.  I'm  to  have  a  dance,  n* est-ce  pas  ?  " 

This  was  apropos  the  waltz  measure,  swelling  in  voluptu 
ous  cadence  from  the  empty  dancing-room.  Lohengrin 
followed  them  idly  at  a  distance  and  watched  the  Vestal  as 
she  floated  airily  around  on  the  arm  of  her  satanic  escort. 
When  the  dance  was  done,  they  came  back  toward  the  spot 
where  he  and  the  Vestal  had  stood,  and  when  Satan  saw  him 
he  advanced  and,  bowing  solemnly,  said  :  "  Sir  Knight,  I  sur 
render  the  Vestal  to  your  valorous  charge."  Then  raising 
her  hand  respectfully  to  his  lips,  joined  a  mask  evidently 
awaiting  him  a  few  steps  away.  As  the  Knight  and  Vestal 
passed  back  to  reach  the  corridor  leading  to  the  grand  stair 
case,  Lohengrin  spied  Prospero  and  invited  him  to  be  of  the 
party  going  down  to  supper.  When  he  joined  them  they 
were  pressed  along  in  a  merry  mob  struggling  in  the  same 
direction.  Theo  caught  sight  of  Cleopatra,  evidently 
bewildered  in  the  crush,  and  with  her  Jules,  looking  about 
anxiously.  She  begged  Lohengrin  to  make  his  way  to  them 
and  inform  the  domino  that  the  Vestal  waited  them. 

"  But  you  must  pledge  me  not  to  make  off  while  I  am 
gone,"  said  the  knight  with  unknightly  premonition  of  the 
Vestal's  good  faith, 

"  I  am  not  an  Arden — I  never  recede  from  a  pledge,"  she 
retorted,  the  eyes  gleaming  toward  Prospero. 

Lohengrin  bit  his  lip  :  there  was  an  almost  malignant 
accent  in  the  way  this  pleasantry  was  spoken,  that  con 
vinced  him  of  a  serious  meaning  in  the  mysterious  woman's 
previous  utterances.  *'  What  can  it  be  ?  "  he  thought,  as  he 
moved  off  hesitatingly.  "  Can  it  be  directed  at  Philip  ?  Has 
he  been  jilting  some  rancorous  intriguante  ?  Perhaps  I  can 
10 


146  TRAJAN. 

find  a  clue  by  surprising  Cleopatra  or  the  monk.  Approach 
ing  them,  he  said,  with  an  air  of  confidence  :  "  Pardon  me, 
holy  father,  the  Vestal  whom  you  see  yonder,  commands  me 
to  bring  you,  with  the  queen,  Cleopatra,  to  join  us  at  the 
supper  table." 

"  The  Vestal  shall  be  obeyed,"  was  the  response,  in  a  deep, 
sepulchral  voice,  which  still  sounded  familiar  to  the  discon 
certed  ambassador.  Philip,  on  his  part,  not  less  piqued  than 
Elliot  by  the  persistence  of  the  vivacious  Vestal  in  recurring 
to  the  same  theme,  seized  the  absence  of  his  kinsman  to  pen 
etrate  the  mystery, 

"  Is  it  in  the  books,  the  stars,  or  the  heart,  learned  priest 
ess,  that  you  find  the  proof  of  Arden  faithlessness  ?  "  he 
asked,  trying  to  pierce  the  mask  concealing  the  gleaming  eyes. 

"  Such  wizard  powers  as  Prospero  owns,  should  solve  the 
mystery,  if  mystery  it  be,"  retorted  the  Vestal,  gayly. 

"  These  powers  reveal  no  trace  of  Arden's  wrong  doing." 

"  Right  and  wrong  are  relative  terms  ;  the  compact  that 
an  Arden  holds  it  blameless  to  break,  may  be  construed  as 
lack  of  faith,  by  more  rigorous  moralists,"  and  the  voice  had 
a  little  tremulous  tone,  that  made  Philip  start  and  examine 
the  speaker  more  intently.  Lohengrin,  with  Cleopatra 
and  the  monk,  appeared  at  this  moment,  and  the  party, 
presented  with  mock  formality  under  their  mask  names, 
set  out  for  the  tables. 

"  Holy  father,"  Lohengrin  spoke,  "you  shall  act  as  mas 
ter  of  ceremonies,  since  you  have  the  advantage,  I  suspect, 
of  knowing  all  the  personalities  here  ;  you  must  tell  us  the 
distinguished  people  we  are  breaking  bread  with." 

"  Ah,  no  ;  I  refuse  that  office.  I  will,  if  you  like,  hear  all 
your  confessions  and,  perhaps,  if  you  haven't  sinned  against 
me  or  mine,  I  will  give  you  absolution,"  and  the  monk 
laughed  as  he  poured  champagne  with  a  manipulation  of  the 
bottle  that  belied  his  garb  and  talk,  whimsically, 

"  We  should  fare  better  confessing  to  you  then,  than  the 
inexorable  Vestal  here,  who  has  taken  my  horoscope  and 


A  FRIEND  AT  COURT.  147 

detects  a  sinister  spot  in  the  blood  of  my  family,"  replied 
Lohengrin,  as  he  laid  a  /#// daintily  on  the  plate  of  the 
Vestal. 

"  Though  it  doesn't  become  my  cloth  to  say  it,"  the  monk 
went  on,  "this  heathen  rival  of  mine,  while  ministering  to 
the  altars  of  the  exiled  gods,  is  to  be  trusted  implicitly  ;  she 
is  a  seventh  daughter  of  a  seventh  son  and  has  inherited 
powers  of  divination — hear  her  rather  for  her  truth  than  her 
cause,"  and,  saying  this,  the  priest  bent  down  and  kissed  the 
hand  of  the  Vestal. 

"  If  this  be  the  placating  form  of  devotion  to  the  oracle, 
I  claim  the  right  to  follow  the  priest's  example,"  whispered 
Elliot  to  the  Vestal,  as  she  drew  back  her  hand,  but  with  no 
sign  of  embarrassment  or  displeasure. 

u  Ah,  no,"  she  laughed,  "  by  virtue  of  his  sacred  office 
the  monk  imprints  the  chaste  kiss  of  common  ministry. 
You,  as  the  slave  of  Mars,  have  no  right  to  share  in  it." 

"  Well,  then,  if  I  forswear  Mars  and  take  up  the  symbols 
of  Venus — " 

"  Still  worse — you  remember  that  in  love  you  are — " 

"  Faithless  ?  " 

"  Precisely.  You  must  have  the  uncommon  power  that 
some  men  have  of  reading  your  own  heart — or,  perhaps,  you 
see  it  in  the  stars  ?  " 

"  I  have  heard  it  so  often  from  rosy  lips  to-night,  that  by 
"damned  iteration,'  I  am  almost  come  to  believe  it.  " 

"  Give  me  time  and  I  will  prove  it." 

"  Never,  if  your  eyes  and  face  equal  your  voice  and  form." 

"Come,  come,"  interrupted  the  monk,  gravely,  in  answer 
to  a  signal  from  the  Vestal,  given  under  the  table,  in  a  sign 
language  he  had  long  since  mastered  on  the  Rue  Galilee. 
"  People  talk  love  when  they  talk  low,  and  as  a  son  of  chiv 
alry,  the  Knight  of  the  Grail  knows  what  befell  the  sacri 
legious  loves  who  lifted  the  eyes  of  the  flesh  to  the  vestal 
virgins*" 

It  was  in  vain  that  Philip  and   Elliot  bent  every  energy, 


148  TRAJAN. 

employed  every  artifice,  to  discover  the  three  masked  con 
spirators  ;  for  that  they  were  in  league  to  keep  up  the  mys 
tification  there  could  be  no  doubt.  Unlike  most  mask  balls 
there  was  no  rule  for  uncovering  at  this  fete,  where,  of  course, 
the  names  of  the  guests  and  their  persons  were  known  to 
either  the  grand  chamberlain  or  some  responsible  person  of 
the  household.  The  Vestal  not  only  kept  her  visor  down  in 
eating — she  used  her  fan  with  such  dexterity  that  her  watch 
ful  neighbors  could  not  even  steal  a  glimpse  of  her  lower 
face,  and  they  left  the  table  as  profoundly  ignorant  as  when 
they  sat  down. 

It  was  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  Theo  and  her 
friend  reached  the  carriage,  and  drove  off  for  the  Rue  Gal 
ilee,  having  carefully  evaded  the  watchful  knight  and  the 
perplexed  Prospero,  lest  they  should  follow  and  identify 
them.  The  wonders  of  this  affair  were  the  theme  of  clubs, 
coteries  and  cafes  for  the  next  month.  Indeed,  on  the  fall 
of  the  Empire,  that  unwarped  censor  of  public  morals,  Punch, 
published  a  poem  ingeniously  contrasting  that  Belshazzar 
feast  with  the  prison  fare  of  Wilhelmshohe.  As  for  the  Par 
isian  journals,  turn  your  files  and  read  the  list  of  great  per 
sonages,  the  columns  of  description  of  such  bewildering 
dresses,  such  mines  of  jewels,  such  display  of  plate  and  crys 
tal — such  magnificence,  in  short,  as  was  never  before  or 
since  fabricated  out  of  the  palaces  of  the  Genii  or  the  dreams 
of  an  Oriental  necromancer.  For  us,  of  course,  its  only 
interest  is  the  figure  qur  brilliant  Theo  played,  and  the  chain 
of  circumstances  whose  important  links,  broken  in  America, 
were  brought  within  the  magnet's  scope  for  reuniting.  It  is 
for  us  to  see  whether  they  did  unite  and  what  effect  the 
union  had  in  after  days  and  times  upon  those  in  whose  for 
tunes  our  interest  has  been  evoked.  Henceforth,  Theo  and 
her  brother  were  among  the  personages  of  Paris. 

So  great  a  person  as  the  Prince  d'Amboise  was  met  there 
after  at  the  family  dinner-table,  and  rumor  soon  had  it  that 
the  bankrupt's  daughter  was  to  be  Princess  d'Amboise,  and 


A  FRIEND  AT  COURT.  149 

mistress  of  the  dozen  more  chateaux  of  that  great  nobleman. 
Jules,  too,  was  to  be  the  husband  of  the  cotton  princess,  and 
all  mammondom  joined  in  doing  hearty  tribute  to  so  much 
good  fortune.  But  greatness  like  this  is  not  always  con 
ceded  without  carping.  There  were  evil  disposed  persons 
who  hinted  ugly  doings.  Rumors  of  Theo's  apprenticeship  in 
the  Rue  Scribe  were  whispered  about.  But  it  was  remarked 
that  one  fine  day  the  dauntless  young  person  rode  down  in 
great  state  to  the  alleged  scene  of  her  studies  in  sharp  prac 
tice  ;  that  the  prince  sat  in  the  chariot  while  she  sailed 
majestically  in,  and  that  when  she  came  out,  the  head  of  the 
firm  came  humbly  to  the  door  with  tears  in  her  fat  eyes,  and 
made  the  most  slavish  and  groveling  signs  of  deference  to 
the  triumphant  diplomatist. 

After  this,  the  first  rumor  was  amended  by  the  addition  of 
the  visit,  in  which  it  was  stated,  as  if  by  ocular  evidence,  that 
the  young  person  had  bought  her  accomplice  off,  and  that 
her  present  denials  did  not  offset  her  previous  hints  and 
innuendoes.  But  where  or  when,  or  among  what  mortal  peo 
ple  was  it,  ever  that  success  did  not  succeed  and  cover  every 
species  of  moral  nakedness  ?  Much  indeed  need  our  ravish 
ing  Theo  care  for  the  gabble  of  the  envious  or  the  chatter 
of  the  malicious.  When  one  has  princes  and  dukes  ready  to 
do  one  homage,  why  care  for  the  disparagements  of  the 
obscure  ?  Theo  was  in  the  garden  whose  blossoms  are  fire, 
where  the  raptures  and  roses  lull  the  senses.  She  knew  the 
repose  dear  to  such  a  nature  as  hers,  and  the  great  were  the 
silly  birds  who  hatched  her  golden  cuckoo  eggs  ! 

With  social  triumphs,  however,  her  commerce  slackened. 
And  to  lull  suspicions  she,  from  time  to  time,  transferred  her 
field  of  operations  to  America,  going  over  laden  with  great 
argosies  for  rich  clients  unable  to  make  the  journey  to  Paris. 
The  profits  of  this  new  method,  which,  since  Theo's  first  ven 
ture,  has  become  common,  soon  began  to  have  its  perils  and 
she  was  forced  to  display  all  the  ingenuity  of  which  she  was  a 
consummate  mistress.  Her  vogue  in  society  threw  the  Ardens 


150  TRAJAN. 

and  Kent  within  her  reach  ;  but  she  never  even  remotely 
alluded  to  the  by-play  at  the  bal  masqut.  She  had  impressed 
upon  Jules  her  wish  that  no  allusion  should  ever  be  made 
to  the  affair,  nor  to  mention  in  the  family  that  Kent  was  in 
Paris.  Jules  was  puzzled  for  her  reasons,  but  as  he  obeyed 
her  implicitly  was  satisfied  to  do  as  she  said  without  troub 
ling  himself  much  with  the  motives  inspiring  what  he 
thought  a  singular  request.  On  her  own  part,  she  lost  no 
opportunity  to  ingratiate  herself  with  the  Ardens — a  some 
what  difficult  business,  as  they  shrank  from  public  life,  and 
refused  half  the  invitations  sent  them. 

The  family  had  but  just  laid  off  mourning  for  Philip's 
parents,  who  had.  been  burned  in  a  frightful  disaster  on  the 
Hudson  river.  Mrs.  Kent  was  the  favorite  sister,  and  had 
long  acted  as  mother  to  Mrs.  Arden  before  her  marriage. 
Philip  himself  had  eyed  Theo  with  startled  surprise  when 
he  first  met  her  in  his  aunt's  drawing-room.  He  had  seen 
her  as  a  little  girl  in  New  York  in  the  days  of  his  surrepti 
tious  courtship  of  her  sister  ;  but  the  past  was  never  alluded 
to  between  them — indeed,  Theo  met  him  like  an  entire 
stranger,  pretending  to  have  forgotten  him.  Jules  had  never 
seen  him  in  New  York,  and  had  no  suspicion  of  what  had 
passed  between  his  sister  and  the  former  Adonis  of  the 
metropolis. 

Assiduous  and  seductive  in  her  court  to  the  family,  Theo 
soon  found  herself  an  intimate  of  all  but  Edith  and  Philip, 
who  maintained  a  reserve  rather  of  instinct  than  expression. 
Elliot  admired  the  witty  little  critic  of  her  countrymen's 
gaucheries  in  the  elegant  society  of  the  capital,  and  defended 
her  stoutly  against  the  acerbities  of  his  cousin  and  sister. 
Bella  found  her  helpful  and  complaisant  in  guiding  her  to 
the  wonders  of  the  Paris  museums,  and  her  respect  for  her 
was  not  lessened  by  Theo's  persistent  refusal  to  accept  the 
present  of  even  a  book  from  the  Arden  household. 

She  insisted  thus  on  a  broad  equality,  which  was  very 
freely  conceded.  The  Ardens  knew  that  the  family  had  met 


A  FRIEND  AT  COURT.  151 

misfortunes,  but  like  most  of  those  who  had  known  them  in 
New  York,  had  a  vague  notion  that  French  kinsmen  had 
helped  them  to  repair  it.  As  the  family  and  its  affairs 
became  more  and  more  known  to  her,  Theo's  inchoate  pur 
pose  of  visiting  the  sin  of  Clare's  blighted  life  upon  the 
whole  family,  grew  into  a  settled  determination.  What 
misery  she  could  wreak  upon  them,  she  could  not  exactly 
see.  She  believed  that  the  Kents  had  been  the  obstacle  to 
her  sister's  happiness,  and  since  the  hand  of  God  had  visited 
the  sin  upon  them,  why  should  not  these  serene  sybarites,  as 
she  called  them,  when  she  looked  about  her  and  saw  the 
evidences  of  princely  ease,  be  made  to  feel  some  of  the 
pangs  she  and  hers  had  been  made  to  suffer  through  their 
wicked  pride  and  insolent  pretensions  ?  For,  if  Clare's  life 
and  beauty  had  not  been  blasted  by  the  miserable  engage 
ment  with  Philip,  she,  like  so  many  girls,  with  not  a  tithe  of 
her  loveliness,  would  have  married  a  fortune,  and  the  pov 
erty  and  misery  of  the  last  six  years  would  have  been  spared 
Jules,  herself  and  her  father.  She  would  humiliate  them,  as 
they  had  humiliated  her  ;  if  she  could  not  do  it  through 
Philip — and  it  was  plain,  that  with  his  prepossessions,  which 
she  had  tried  in  vain  to  conquer,  she  couldn't — she  must  do 
it  through  some  other  heart  that  was  dear  to  them. 

Every  time  her  eye  rested  on  the  gray  hair  and  the  sad 
face  of  Clare,  she  made  the  covenant  anew  to  herself  ;  she 
often  caught  herself  on  the  verge  of  tears  as  she  compared 
the  beautiful  girl,  passing  her  life  so  listlessly  in  this  obscure 
home,  with  the  frivolous  and  painted  harridans  that  posed 
as  beauties  in  the  great  world,  and  her  little  heart  throbbed 
with  a  confirmed  purpose  of  wreaking  vengeance  upon  those 
near  and  dear  the  ingrate  who  had  flung  away  this  rare 
jewel. 

But  her  melodramatic  introspections  did  not  change  the 
gayety  of  her  manner.  Nothing  can  equal  the  address  of 
a  young  and  vigorous  feminine  intellect  bent  upon  some 
covert  achievement.  The  duplicity  of  the  Italian  is  frank- 


152  TRAJAN. 

ness  itself  to  her  guileless  demeanor  ;  the  patience  of  the 
Hindoo,  impetuosity  to  the  deliberation  of  her  preparation  ; 
the  firmness  of  a  man,  a  quivering  reed  compared  to  her 
fixedness.  Under  a  mask  of  volatility  these  methods  are 
doubly  sinister.  Theo  often  grew  frightened  at  herself  as 
this  odious  purpose  became  a  haunting  spirit,  and  she 
resolved  to  dismiss  the  demon.  She  would  take  her  revenge 
in  triumphs  over  these  purse-proud  insolents,  by  leading 
them  in  social  Mat,  by  patronizing  them,  by  holding  the 
door  of  the  great  open  or  shut  in  their  faces  as  caprice  should 
dictate.  She  would  become  a  princess — she  turned  roseate 
as  this  delicious  thought  came — she  would  be  the  grandest 
dame  in  the  ranks  of  the  ancien  noblesse,  she  would  be  the 
intimate  of  royalties,  and  when  these  plebeian  nobodies 
approached  her,  she  would  drink  the  intoxicating  cup  of 
vengeance  to  the  dregs.  Theo  was  far  too  shrewd,  how 
ever,  to  put  trust  in  purely  visionary  possibilities.  That  the 
Prince  d'Amboise  had  contemplated  the  possibility  of  asking 
her  to  marry  him,  she  felt  confident  ;  but  whether  he  would, 
she  knew  was  dependent  upon  the  likelihood  of  her  being 
able  to  put  him  in  possession  of  a  fortune  large  enough  to 
re-establish  the  ancient  glories  of  his  race. 

If  Jules  could  make  a  rich  marriage  she  might  be  a  prin 
cess,  if  she  cared  to  be,  but,  she  added,  as  she  smiled  at 
herself  complacently  in  the  mirror,  that  she  wasn't  quite 
sure  that  she  wanted  to  be.  She  was  still  young  enough  to 
hold  to  the  romance  that  abides  for  a  season  in  all  girlish 
natures,  before  they  are  depraved  by  worldliness,  and  she 
sighed  with  a  little  throb  of  yearning  that  gave  her  a  momen 
tary  beauty,  that  does  not  inspire  doubt,  of  a  passion  which 
should  absorb  her  heart,  innocent  and  pure  as  the  visions  of 
her  girlhood.  Fate  was  soon  to  give  her  the  boon  ;  let  us 
see  if  her  good  or  bad  angel  rules  when  the  blessing  comes. 


AN  OCEAN  EPISODE.  153 

CHAPTER  XL 

AN      OCEAN      EPISODE-. 

MEN  are  not  by  any  means  such  stuff  as  dreams  are  made 
of.  If  they  were,  the  burdens  of  this  life  would  end 
with  the  sleep.  Pain  and  pleasure  are  of  the  same  texture 
— woven  in  the  same  loom.  We  look  before  and  after,  and 
the  horizon  is  bounded  by  the  same  blank.  Our  loves,  like 
our  hates,  leave  the  taste  of  ashes  on  our  lips  ;  our  triumphs, 
like  our  defeats,  leave  a  trail  of  bitterness — the  remembrance 
of  happier  things  is  no  less  a  mirror  of  our  own  feebleness 
than  the  memory  of  our  failures.  The  day  and  the  deed  are 
no  more  of  life's  purpose  than  the  broken  circlet  in  the  pool 
receding  and  disappearing  and  arising  anew. 

When  the  name  of  Theo  Carnot  came  up  in  the  conver 
sation  at  the  cafe  supper,  Trajan  Gray  was  like  an  exhausted 
swimmer,  who  had  buffeted  the  waves  and  found  a  moment's 
refuge  on  a  friendly  rock,  where  another  effort  promises 
security.  He  was  plunged  violently  back  into  the  swirl  of 
foaming  tides  which  had  before  borne  him  down.  It  was 
love  of  Theo  Carnot  that  had  made  two  years  of  his  life  a 
dream.  It  was  horror  of  Theo  Carnot  that  made  life  a 
mockery.  Two  years  before  he  had  met  her.  He  was  tak 
ing  ship  at  Havre  for  New  York.  The  vessel  was  crowded 
with  German,  French  and  even  English  emigrants.  Trajan 
had  been  obliged  to  secure  a  stateroom  by  himself,  as  he  had 
work  to  do  which  he  felt  should  be  finished  before  arriving 
at  New  York.  The  vessel  sailed  from  Havre  early  in  the 
day,  and  the  young  man,  without  acquaintances  on  board, 
went  forward  to  the  steerage.  The  sea  was  not  rough,  but 
the  chopping  waves  of  the  channel  had  already  affected  the 
unhappy  crowds  packed  in  the  dark  and  malodorous  quar 
ters  of  the  emigrants.  While  Trajan  stood  watching  the 
waves,  there  was  a  stir  at  the  gangway.  A  girl  came  scream- 


154  TRAJAN. 

ing  toward  one  of  the  sailors,  but  between  terror  and  sea 
sickness  found  it  difficult  to  make  herself  understood. 

"Well,  ramie,'"  said  the  sailor,  not  unkindly,  "what  is  it? 
be  calm,  there's  plenty  of  time." 

"  Ah,  monsieur,  there  is  some  one  dying  below  ;  where  is 
the  doctor  ?  where — " 

But  the  frightened  creature  could  articulate  no  more.  A 
violent  spasm  of  illness  sent  her  reeling  against  the  rail. 
Trajan,  approaching  the  sailor,  asked  if  there  could  be  any 
thing  serious  below. 

"  Ah,  no  ;  they  all  think  they  are  dying  when  the  first 
attack  comes." 

"  But  wouldn't  it  be  well  to  have  the  doctor  among  them 
at  the  beginning?"  said  the  young  man,  knowing  from 
experience  the  horrors  of  the  first  days  at  sea. 

"  The  doctor  can't  be  every  where,"  responded  the  sailor, 
shrugging  his  shoulders.  The  girl  by  this  time  somewhat 
restored,  came  back  to  Trajan,  and  putting  her  hand  on  his 
arm  said,  pleadingly  : 

"  It  is  not  the  sea-sickness  ;  it  is  some  dangerous — oh — if 
monsieur  would  go  down  himself — he  would  see." 

Trajan's  was  not  the  nature  to  disregard  an  appeal  of  this 
sort.  He  asked  where  the  sufferer-  was  quartered,  and  the 
girl,  not  daring  to  trust  herself  in  the  hideous  atmosphere, 
directed  him.  Descending  the  steep,  greasy  stairway,  he 
found  himself  in  the  squalid,  half-lighted,  ill-ventilated 
schwdrmerei  of  the  steerage.  Although  no  longer  liable  to 
sea-sickness,  Trajan's  eyes  swam  dizzily  as  he  penetrated  into 
the  foul  air.  Shrieks  and  groans  came  from  the  cots  on  nil 
sides.  Both  sexes  were  crowded  into  the  place  in  common. 
There  was  no  sort  of  privacy.  The  cots  were  arranged  in 
tiers  and  the  occupants  thrust  themselves  in  as  goods  are 
packed  in  crates.  The  floors  were  already  foul  with  debris 
from  the  sick  and  the  refuse  of  the  midday  meal.  With  a 
good  deal  of  difficulty,  Trajan  found  the  spot  where  the  girl 
described  the  dying  woman  to  be.  But  there  were  a  score 


AN  0 CEA N  EPISODE.  1 5 5 

of  helpiess  victims,  moaning  and  twisting  on  the  scant  beds. 
Trajan  was  about  to  quit  the  noisome,  fetid  cave  of  misery 
when,  from  the  lower  range  of  berths,  a  piercing  shriek,  that 
arose  above  the  wails  of  the  others,  indicated  the  object  he 
was  searching.  The  shriek  was  succeeded  by  groans  hardly 
less  terrible.  Bending  down,  Trajan  could  barely  distin 
guish  a  woman's  form  writhing  in  convulsive  pain.  He  saw 
in  an  instant  that  it  was  no  case  of  sea-sickness.  The  suf 
ferer's  hair  was  in  a  tangled  mass  over  her  neck,  and  as  the 
paroxysms  returned  she  seized  the  long  masses,  twisting  them 
around  her  wrists,  then  stuffing  coils  of  them  into  her  mouth 
strove  to  stop  her  outcries  with  them. 

Trajan  touched  the  woman  in  the  berth  above,  who  was 
lying  with  a  towel  tightly  clenched  between  her  teeth. 

"  Can  you  tell  me  what  is  the  matter  with  your  neighbor  ?  " 
he  asked.  There  was  no  response.  He  shook  her  with  some 
emphasis  and  repeated  the  question.  The  woman  took  the 
gag  from  her  mouth  and,  without  turning,  said,  pantingly: 

"  She  is  in  childbirth.' 

The  young  man  shrunk  backward  with  an  exclamation  of 
surprise,  his  blood  surging  with  indignant  fury  at  the  system 
that  could  thus  trifle  with  the  sacred  torments  of  maternity. 
He  hurried  to  the  deck  ;  no  one  could  tell  him  where  the 
doctor  was  to  be  found.  He  set  out  to  seek  him  in  the  first 
cabin.  He  had  not  long  to  search.  The  doctor  was  a 
young  man  from  the  Paris  schools — such  as  are  to  be  found 
on  all  the  ocean  lines — with  no  experience  in  medicine  or 
practice,  and  accepting  the  post  of  ship's  surgeon  for  a  sea 
son,  with  merely  nominal  pay,  for  the  opportunities  it  gives 
for  making  acquaintances  and  sometimes  lucky  marriage. 

Trajan  waited  at  the  stairs  to  hear  the  report.  The 
doctor  came  back  looking  serious.  "  It  is  a  wretched  busi 
ness,  both  mother  and  child  will  die  in  that  frightful 
debacle.  It  is  a  premature  birth  brought  on  by  the  voyage." 

"  Can't  a  room  be  found  for  her  in  the  first  cabin  ? " 
asked  Trajan,  anxiously. 


15  TRAJAN. 

11  Impossible  ;  every  state-room  was  taken  ten  days  ago. 
The  officers  are  doubled  up  two  in  a  room  to  give  every 
available  bed  to  the  passengers." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Trajan,  determinedly,  "  I  will  see  the 
captain."  From  port  to  port  the  captain  of  a  ship  is  an  im 
penetrable  mystery.  Burdened  with  the  awful  responsibility 
which  rests  upon  him,  he  shuns  acquaintance  with  his  sur 
roundings,  and  turns  a  deaf  ear  to  the  most  seductive  allure 
ments  of  his  transient  proteges.  Reticence  is  the  law  of  a 
well  ordered  ship,  and  the  captain  is  the  most  tenacious 
apostle  of  the  code.  Trajan  knew  this  ;  but  he  was  none 
the  less  determined  to  carry  out  his  purpose.  The  potentate 
had  just  descended  from  the  bridge,  and  entered  his  office, 
where  a  group  of  ladies  were  awaiting  him,  when  Trajan 
caught  sight  of  his  insignia.  It  was  embarrassing  to  expose 
the  situation  before  ladies,  but  if  they  were  French  that 
embarrassment  would  be  but  trifling.  The  young  man 
resolutely  advanced  to  the  charge.  The  captain  looked  at 
him  grimly  as  he  told  the  story,  and  shook  his  head  as  Tra 
jan  concluded  with  the  request  to  transfer  the  unfortunate 
to  his  own  cabin. 

"  Who  are  you?  "  said  the  captain,  abruptly. 

Trajan  had  not  thought  of  mentioning  his  name,  but 
now  an  idea  struck  him.  His  semi-journalistic  occupation 
would  give  him  a  lever  on  the  old  martinet.  He  said  as  he 
handed  his  card  :  "I  am  a  journalist,  and  write  for  the  New 
York  press." 

The  captain's  jaw  fell  at  this.  He  knew  what  that  meant. 
A  scandal,  when  the  ship  reached  port,  should  the  woman 
die.  A  reprimand  from  his  directors  and  a  damage  to  the 
French  line,  which  at  that  time  was  under  a  cloud  in  the 
United  States. 

"  Where  is  the  doctor  ? "  he  asked  sharply. 

"  I  left  him  in  the  steerage." 

The  captain  touched  a  bell  and  twirled  Trajan's  card  in 
his  fingers.  In  a  minute  a  cabin  boy  appeared.  "Go, bring 


AN  0 CEA N  EPISODE.  1 5  7 

Monsieur  Sautane  to  me  ;  he  is  in  the  steerage."  The  cap 
tain  looked  at  Trajan  without  saying  a  word.  Then  he 
turned  and  addressed  the  ladies  who  had  been  looking  over 
a  book  of  charts. 

"  You  heard  the  tale,  mademoiselle,"  he  said,  half-smiling 
at  the  younger,  a  dark-eyed,  vivacious  girl,  in  a  bewitching 
robe  of  blue  flannel,  fitting  tightly  to  her  symmetrical  body. 

"  Yes,  man  capitaine"  she  said,  casting  a  glance  at  Trajan. 
"  I  know  you're  going  to  rescue  this  poor  creature  ;  the  ship 
would  have  no  luck  if  you  didn't."  As  she  said  this  she 
caught  the  rapturous  smile  on  Trajan's  face  and  answered  it 
by  an  imperceptible  blush  and  nod  of  encouragement. 

"  Humph,"  grunted  the  captain.  "  It  is  mischievously 
irregular,  but  you  Americans  must  be  humored,  I  suppose. 
Well,  Monsieur  Sautane,"  he  said,  as  the  doctor  appeared, 
"  what  is  this  comedy  you  are  playing  down  there  ?  " 

"  Ah,  mon  capitaine,  it  is  no  comedy,  only  I  don't  see  what 
can  be  done.  The  woman  will  die  if  left  there,  and  since 
monsieur  is  willing  to  give  his  place,  it  must  be  done,  to  save 
her  life." 

"  Tres  bien — let  it  be  done — but  monsieur  understands 
that  he  will  have  to  take  the  woman's  place  in  the  steerage, 
for  when  he  delivers  his  ticket  he  will  have  no  status  in  this 
part  of  the  ship  ? "  This  was  launched  at  Trajan  as  one 
should  say  :  "Very  well,  young  man,  if  you  insist  on  forcing 
an  unheard-of  thing  upon  us,  you  will  pay  for  it  by  bearing 
the  hardship  yourself." 

"  I  am  deeply  grateful  to  you,  sir,  for  giving  her  a  chance 
for  life,  and  I  don't  mind  the  inconvenience  at  all.  I  only 
beg  that  she  may  be  transferred  as  soon  as  possible." 

"  Let  it  be  done  at  once,  Monsieur  Sautane,"  said  the  cap 
tain,  turning  his  back  and  taking  up  some  papers,  as  a  sig 
nal  that  the  interview  was  ended.  Trajan  could  not  resist 
another  glance  at  his  ally  in  blue,  and  their  eyes  met.  He 
could  have  played  the  part  of  St.  Simeon  Stylites  and  perched 
on  a  masthead  during  the  whole  voyage  for  that  sympathetic 


158  TRAJAN* 

glance.  But  as  he  walked  away  with  the  doctor,  his  mind 
in  a  tumult  of  foolish  fancies,  that  practical  official  said, 
good-naturedly  : 

"  You  were  lucky  to  catch  the  chief  in  the  presence  of  your 
countrywoman.  If  you  had  found  him  alone  he  would  have 
scouted  such  a  thing.  He  is  the  strictest  disciplinarian 
on  the  '  Transatlantique.'  Not  unkind  or  a  martinet,  but 
rigorous  for  tradition.  You  owe  your  victory  to  ces  demoi 
selles." 

Trajan  was  burning  to  ask  the  name  of  one  of  "  ces  demoi 
selles"  but  resisted.  He  made  a  guess  that  the  demoiselle 
who  had  intervened  in  his  behalf  was  the  American  the  doc 
tor  spoke  of,  though  her  French  accent  did  not  betray  it. 
There  was  great  commotion  and  no  little  jealousy  among 
the  other  unfortunates  able  to  be  on  deck  when  Trajan's 
protegee  was  carried  up  on  a  litter  and  disappeared  in  the 
first  cabin. 

"  I  shall  leave  my  baggage  here,"  said  Trajan,  as  he  made 
up  a  kit  to  serve  him  in  the  steerage. 

"  That's  as  you  please,"  said  the  doctor,  busy  with  the 
invalid.  "  I  don't  see  how  you're  to  endure  those  people 
over  there." 

"The  people  are  endurable  enough,"  retorted  Trajan, 
impatiently,  "  it  is  the  place  that  is  unendurable.  I  don't 
see  how  Christians  can  allow  such  iniquities." 

Having  no  further  right  in  the  cabin  Trajan  retraced  his 
steps  to  the  deck.  As  he  passed  up  the  gangway  he  met 
the  demoiselle,  his  ally.  She  looked  at  Trajan  as  he  came 
up  the  steps  holding  on  the  rail,  and  there  was  a  glance  of 
recognition.  He  had  a  wild  hope  that  she  would  ask  if  the 
woman  was  removed,  and  thus  give  him  a  chance  to  thank 
her.  But  her  friends  were  talking — two  or  three  of  them  in 
a  breath — and  in  an  instant  they  had  all  passed  down  into 
the  clatter  of  the  dining-room.  He  stood  at  the  rail  behind 
the  wheel-house,  his  mind  filled  with  rosy  pictures,  taking 
no  definite  shape.  He  wondered  who  the  charming  girl 


AN  OCEAN  EPISODE.  159 

might  be.  That  she  was  American  he  made  no  doubt. 
That  her  heart  was  fine  and  generous  he  was  sure — else  how 
could  she  have  intervened  to  aid  the  woe-stricken  ? 

In  the  dim  shapes  that  filled  the  horizon  of  his  mind,  that 
mental  eye  which  penetrated  the  unknown  heart  did  not 
make  a  distinct  picture  of  her  face.  That  she  was  not  a 
beauty  was  certain.  But,  per  contra,  she  was  charming. 
Her  eye  told  volumes  of  the  vivacity  of  her  spirit.  The 
truth  is  that  the  object  of  a  young  man's  fancy  is  as  much  a 
myth  as  the  goddesses  of  the  Greeks.  They  are  like  the 
poet's  creations,  airy  forms  that  take  exactly  the  shape  the 
longing  lover  gives  them  in  the  cells  of  his  brain  or  the 
senses  of  the  heart.  The  stout  ship  was  well  rocked  in  the 
bosom  of  that  turbulent  bit  of  deep  that  divides  the  British 
Isles  from  the  Norman  and  Breton  coasts,  so  that  when  the 
harbor  of  Brest  came  in  sight  half  the  company  was  pros 
trate,  and  Trajan  had  but  few  companions  in  his  starlight 
vigil.  He  lingered  under  the  canopy,  where  the  more 
adventurous  of  the  ladies  held  a  small  court,  hoping  to  hear 
the  voice  of  his  new  ideal.  As  he  passed  he  heard  a  voice 
saying  in  the  English  tongue  : 

"  It  was  an  act  of  real  heroism  ;  the  young  man  deserves 
the  thanks  of  the  whole  passenger  list." 

"Aw,  yes,  Miss  Theo,  it  was  rather  stunning,"  answered 
a  drawling  voice  with  an  unmistakable  cockney  thickness. 
"  Was  the  young  fellah  American — I  say  ?  " 

"  You  may  be  sure  he  was  American  ;  you  don't  find 
French,  or — hardly  any  other  nationality  capable  of  such 
delicacy  toward  women,"  said  the  first  voice  somewhat  stiffly. 

"  Bless  my  soul,  Miss  Theo,  you  don't  mean  to  say  that 
you  think  that  I  wouldn't  have  done  the  same,  if  I  had  seen 
the  poor  creature  as  you  describe  ? " 

A  musical  laugh,  and  then  the  voice  :  "  Every  one's  a  hero 
when  the  breach  is  forced,  as  we're  all  prophets  after  the 
event  !  " 

"  Come,  now,  I  say,  that's  too  hard,  you  know,"  rejoined 


l6o  TRAJAN. 

the  Briton.     "  A  fellow  would  be  a  cad  who  would  do  other 
wise  than  your  hero  did." 

"  But  where  is  he,  Theo  ?  you  must  point  him  out  to  us. 
Is  he  young  and  handsome,  or  a  seminary  student  in  gog 
gles  ?"  (a  feminine  voice  this). 

Trajan  was  ashamed  to  listen,  but  stood  rooted  to  the 
spot,  waiting  the  answer. 

"  Aw,    ya'as,  describe    your  paragon  to  us,    Miss  Theo, 
that  we  may  pick  him  out  in   the    morning,  for,   of  course, 
hero   is    stamped   on   his   whole   person,"    said   the   man's 
voice. 

"  No,  I'm  not  going  to  give  you  any  clue.  He  is  no 
doubt  modest,  elsewise  he  couldn't  be  brave,  and  he  wouldn't 
thank  me  for  making  him  a  curiosity.  So  you  shall  hear  no 
more  from  me,"  said  the  voice,  that  Trajan,  in  his  silly  soul, 
distinguished  as  the  angel's. 

"  Oh,  as  to  that,  it's  an  easy  matter  to  find  your  knight," 
said  female  voice  No.  2.  "  We  can  go  to  the  doctor." 

41  Who  seeks  the  doctor  ? "  said  that  worthy,  coming  from 
the  cabin  door  at  the  moment. 

"  Ah,  doctor,"  cried  two  or  three  together,  "  who  is  the 
hero  of  the  steerage  episode  ?  Miss  Carnot  refuses  to  tell  us 
his  name  or  describe  him.  You  were  part  of  the  drama. 
Do  tell  us." 

"  Ma  foi,  mesdames  !  I  do  not  know  the'narne.  He  is  a 
fine  young  fellow,  a  poet  or  a  preacher  or  something  of  the 
sort.  But  his  name  can  be  easily  known.  It  is  on  his  ticket 
and  the  quartermaster  has  that." 

"  How  is  his  protegee  coming  on  ?"  asked  the  voice  of 
Miss  Theo. 

"  You  should  say  his  two  proteges,  mademoiselle,  for  a 
little  son  now  shares  the  state-room  with  the  mother,  and 
both  are  doing  finely — but  that  the  little  fellow  needs  some 
garments." 

There  was  a  chorus  of  wonder  and  then  a  voice  said  : 
"  We  must  have  a  sewing  bee  and  make  up  a  layette  for  the 


AN  OCEAN  EPISODE.  161 

little  sea  king.  But,  doctor,  who  is  attending  the  mother  ? 
Is  there  a  nurse  with  her  ?  " 

"  Yes,  mademoiselle,  a  stewardess  is  with  her." 

"  Couldn't  we  go  down  and  see  the  baby  ?  "  asked  female 
voice  No.  2. 

"  Nothing  in  the  world  to  prevent."  Trajan  slipped 
around  the  corner  of  the  smoking-room  as  the  party  arose 
and  passed  to  the  forward  companion-way.  He  was  in  a 
glow  of  artless  rapture.  She  set  some  store  on  his  unstudied 
act.  She  considered  him  worth  a  word  of  delicate  praise- 
He  found  himself  wishing  that  there  had  been  some  actual 
crisis  where  real  daring  might  have  been  his  to  play,  and  the 
poor  mother,  and  her  babe,  how  little  they  could  realize  how 
they,  instead  of  he,  had  been  the  workers  of  a  great  deed  ! 

Ah,  foolish,  foolish  story  ! — old  as  the  time  when  the 
morning  stars  warbled  the  same  refrain,  always  new  and  al 
ways  the  same.  As  we  think  on  it,  the  gray  vanishes  from 
under  our  wig,  the  wrinkles  whip  themselves  out  of  our 
frosty  old  cheeks,  the  dimness  drops  from  our  spectacled 
eyes,  and  we  trip  again  under  the  apple  blossoms  in  the 
lane  yonder,  as  the  bobolink  pours  his  full  throat  of  song 
into  the  soft  summer  air.  It  was  just  as  well  for  Trajan 
that  there  was  no  sleep  for  him  that  night.  He  went  down 
in  the  filthy  pit  for  a  moment,  but  he  saw  that  he  could  not 
close  his  eyes,  what  with  the  despairing  cries  and  the  fetid 
air.  Taking  his  blanket  he  seated  himself  far  up  in  the 
peak  on  a  coil  of  anchor  chains.  He  watched  the  moon, 
sometimes  leaning  over  the  side  to  see  the  prow  of  the  ves 
sel  cleaving  through  the  coruscating  masses  of  water,  and 
breaking  it  into  a  fairy  spray  of  phosphorescent  sparkles. 

The  hot  sun  was  beating  on  his  bare  head  when  he  awoke 
in  the  morning.  The  ship  was  plowing  through  the  ocean 
at  a  fine  rate.  He  was  hungry  and  felt  his  garments  cling 
ing  uncomfortably  to  his  skin.  He  looked  about  for  a  place 
to  bathe.  But  like  all  the  other  provisions  for  the  wretched 
emigrants,  this  was  a  travesty.  He  was  hungry  and  felt 
ii 


162  TRAJAN. 

that  he  must  eat.  The  coffee  was  not  bad,  but  the  bread 
was  moldy.  Hunger,  however,  made  it  palatable.  Toward 
noon,  as  he  sat  reading  on  the  anchor  chains  a  hand  was 
laid  on  his  shoulder  and  the  doctor  said  in  a  hearty  tone  : 

"  Mr.  Gray,  I  looked  all  over  the  vessel  for  you  last  night, 
to  offer  you  a  bed  on  my  cabin  floor,  for,  of  course,  you 
know  the  captain  wasn't  in  earnest  in  charging  you  to  remain 
in  this  den.  But  luck  is  in  your  favor — I  bring  you  a  friend 
who  has  a  bed  in  his  room  at  your  disposal." 

"  If  you  will  pardon  my  boldness,  my  name  is  Armitage  " 
— and  Trajan  recognized  the  voice  of  the  Englishman  of  the 
night  before — "  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  put  you  up.  It 
isn't  right  that  such  self-sacrifice  as  yours  should  bring  so 
much  inconvenience  as  this  upon  you." 

"  I  shall  be  very  glad  indeed  to  take  advantage  of  your 
offer,"  said  Trajan,  laughing,  "  for,  though  virtue  is  its  own 
reward,  I  think  the  surroundings  count  for  something." 

"  Have  you  heard  from  your  protegee?"  said  the  doctor, 
in  a  mysterious  tone. 

"I  have  heard  that  there  is  a  baby,"  answered  Trajan, 
guiltily  remembering  how  he  had  gained  the  information. 
"  Are  they  doing  well  ?  " 

"  Charmingly.  The  mother  was  conscious  of  her  situation 
this  morning,  and  her  surprise  was  ludicrous  enough  when 
she  recognized  the  change  in  her  circumstances.  I  told  her 
to  whom  she  was  indebted,  and  she  begs  that  you  will  give 
her  a  chance  to  thank  you  and  let  the  baby  bear  your  name." 

"  I  don't  know  whether  I  should  assent  to  that  last,"  said 
Armitage,  laughing,  "cut  of  France,  where  the  search  of 
paternity  is  not  forbidden  by  law." 

The  doctor  laughed,  and  Trajan  affected  not  to  under 
stand  the  allusion.  So,  after  all,  the  voyage  was  to  be  an 
agreeable  one.  Trajan's  luggage  was  transferred  to  the 
cabin  of  Armitage,  and  as  he  emerged  on  deck,  refreshed  by 
a  bath  and  cleanliness,  he  was  seized  by  Armitage,  who  said 
authoritatively  : 


A 2V  OCEAN  EPISODE.  163 

"  I  am  ordered  to  present  you  for  muster  at  the  wheel. 
Next  to  being  a  hero,  the  best  thing  is  to  be  the  hero's 
keeper — but  I  say,"  he  added,  with  serio-comic  gravity, 
"don't  monopolize  all  the  ladies,  you  know." 

Trajan  manfully  resisted  a  jibe  at  his  new  friend's  expense, 
apropos  his  declarations  of  the  evening  before.  As  they 
approached  the  deck-house  a  charming  picture  was  presented. 
A  score  of  sea-chairs  were  set  in  lines,  some  facing  each 
other.  A  dozen  ladies  were  seated  on  them,  some  in  the 
grateful  convalescence  of  sea-sickness  ;  others  sewing  and 
reading,  while  an  incessant  babble  accompanied  the  whole. 

"  Mesdames  et  demoiselles"  said  Armitage,  "I  present  you 
the  hero  of  the  ship.  If  you  will  say  one-half  before  his 
face  that  you  have  said  behind  his  back,  and  he  can  stand 
it,  I  will  own  that  he  is  of  the  real  heroic  stamp."  Then, 
looking  around  and  seeing  no  seat  vacant,  he  added  :  "  Which 
of  you  will  emulate  the  virtue  of  your  hero  and  give  him  a 
chair  ?" 

The  laugh  that  followed  this  sally  gave  Trajan  time  to 
recover  his  presence  of  mind.  He  was  presented  to  each  of 
the  ladies,  and  as  Miss  Theo  happened  to  have  a  clear  space 
by  her  chair,  the  young  man  hid  his  confusion  under  shelter 
of  her  sunshade. 

"  I  was  positive,  Mr.  Gray,  even  before  I  saw  your  card," 
said  the  lady,  "  that  you  were  an  American  chevalier.  Quix 
otism  of  that  sort  is  altogether  out  of  the  comprehension  of 
Frenchmen.  An  Englishman  might  do  it,  but  he  would 
secure  a  place  for  himself  first." 

Trajan  was  heartily  weary  of  the  episode,  and  turned  the 
conversation  by  a  penetrating  observation  on  the  sublimity 
of  the  scene  and  the  perfection  of  the  weather.  He  was 
startled  and  delighted  to  find  that  the  divinity  had  conde 
scended  to  look  at  his  card,  and  felicitated  himself  on  his 
sagacity  in  discovering  that  she  was  not  a  foreigner.  Before 
the  day  had  passed  Trajan  was  hopelessly  enslaved — but  not 
from  any  preference  or  subtle  signal  of  encouragement  given 


1 64  TRAJAN. 

by  the  divinity.  Her  charm  of  mind  and  manner  grew  with 
every  change  in  mood.  Her  wit  kept  the  company  in  a  con 
tinual  qui  vive — not  always  so  much  from  the  thing  she  said 
as  its  intent  and  the  indescribable  drollery  of  manner.  Tra 
jan  confessed  to  himself  that  he  had  never  seen  a  woman  so 
perfectly  mistress  of  all  the  arms  of  social  combat. 

After  luncheon  Theo  sat  down  at  the  piano,  and  for  an 
hour  the  crowded  cabin  was  lost  in  the  homes  and  joys  left 
behind  in  the  exquisite  songs  without  words,  or  enlivened 
by  the  gay  staves  of  Strauss  and  Offenbach.  Trajan  sat 
down  in  the  smoke-room  after  the  event,  and  the  talkative 
Armitage,  with  a  big  pipe  in  his  mouth,  came  and  took  the 
place  next  him. 

"  A  remarkable  girl,  that  countrywoman  of  yours,  Mr. 
Gray.  She  has  captivated  the  whole  ship." 

"Yes,"  said  Trajan,  with  an  effort,  "a  very  charming 
girl." 

"  I've  heard  of  a  face  being  a  fortune  ;  but  if  that  young 
woman's  wit  isn't  a  mint,  then  I  shall  be  buried  in  a  blue 
stocking." 

As  the  Briton  paused,  Trajan  felt  constrained  to  say  some 
thing,  and  quite  at  random  remarked  :  "  Miss  Carnot  isn't 
an  author,"  vaguely  associating  the  Englishman's  disjointed 
remark  into  an  assertion  that  Miss  Theo  was  a  writer. 

"  God  forbid,"  said  the  other  heartily.  "  So  far  as  I  know, 
she  never  wrote  a  line  for  print  in  her  life." 

"  I  don't  share  your  thanksgiving,"  said  Trajan,  good- 
humoredly.  "If  Miss  Carnot  could  put  half  the  wit  in 
writing  she  lavishes  in  talking,  she  would  rank  as  an  Ameri 
can  de  Stael." 

"As  to  that,"  said  the  Englishman,  mischievously,  "since 
no  one  reads  American  books,  perhaps  a  freak  of  book-writ 
ing  might  not  destroy  the  lady  in  Miss  Carnot."  Then,  as 
if  conscious  that  even  the  jocose  tone  in  which  this  was  said 
did  not  relieve  it  of  a  tinge  of  ill-breeding,  he  added  : 
"  What  an  amazing  change  has  come  over  our  insular  ignor- 


THE  SIREN  SINGS  UNDER  THE  MAST.  165 

ance  of  America  since  that  famous  mot  was  put  out !  I  have 
counted  the  books  in  railway  stalls  throughout  our  island 
many  a  time,  and  I  find  that  American  reprints  make  up 
fully  a  third  of  our  current  literature." 

Trajan  laughed  heartily.  "  If  you  think  your  last  remark 
an  amende  for  the  first,  I  decline  to  receive  it — for  it  is 
almost  as  true  now  as  when  it  was  written,  that  our  literature 
does  not  compare  with  European  authorship — with,  of 
course,  exceptions  that  have  not  been  increased  since  that 
famous  query  that  so  angered  my  countrymen." 

"Are  you  serious?"  said  Armitage,  taking  his  pipe  out  of 
his  mouth  and  resting  it  on  the  card- table  in  front  of  him. 
"  You  Americans  chaff  in  such  a  serious  tone  that  I'm  never 
quite  sure  of  my  ground.  There's  Miss  Carnot,  for  example. 
I  talk,  as  I  imagine  seriously,  with  her  for  an  hour,  and  find 
out  in  the  end  that  she  has  been  ridiculing  me  in  the  most 
aerial  plunges  of  my  pet  hobbies." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    SIREN    SINGS    UNDER    THE  MAST. 

Trajan's  no  small  discomfiture,  the  waif  in  state 
room  214  became  known  as  "Gray's  baby."  He  was 
asked  jocosely  after  its  welfare  by  the  male  passengers,  and 
even  the  ladies  smiled  mischievously  whenever  the  little  fel 
low  was  the  topic.  He  wisely  bore  the  banter  with  unim- 
pairable  good-humor,  which  he  was  the  better  enabled  to  do 
as  it  enabled  him  to  conceal  the  passion  that  was  taking 
possession  of  him.  He  had  gained  another  glimpse  of  his 
divinity  since  his  first  meeting.  Going  down  one  day  to  214 
to  see  Madame  Blaye,  as  the  woman  he  had  rescued  from 
the  steerage  was  registered,  he  encountered  Theo  in  the 
room  with  the  baby  in  her  arms,  smothering  the  little  waif 


1 66  TRAJAN. 

with  kisses.  She  blushed  rosily  when  the  young  man  opened 
the  door  in  response  to  a  careless  "  Come  in,"  and  with  the 
most  charming  embarrassment  ever  thrown  out  as  a  bait  to 
an  enraptured  lover,  said  sweetly  : 

"  Madame  Blaye,  this  is  your  benefactor,  Mr.  Trajan 
Gray."  The  poor  woman  started  toward  him — she  had  been 
sitting  as  he  entered,  and,  to  Trajan's  unspeakable  surprise, 
fell  on  her  knees  and  snatching  his  hand  kissed  it  repeatedly. 
She  strove  to  speak,  but  could  only  ejaculate  in  French  : 

"  Mon  Dieu,  mon  Dieu  !  How  good  you  are — -beaujeune 
homme!  " 

Trajan  was  confounded  and  looked  appealingly  at  Theo 
who  bore  the  ordeal  with  comic  gravity.  Even  a  lover's 
woes  may  be  endured,  if  a  woman  but  make  up  her  mind  to 
it.  He  disengaged  himself  somewhat  angrily  from  the 
grateful  creature,  who  was  evidently  determined  to  mark  her 
gratitude  by  remaining  on  her  knees  during  her  benefactor's 
call.  Trajan  ended  the  scene  abruptly  by  asking  if  he  could 
be  of  any  service,  and  then  fled.  He  was  quite  sure  he 
heard  Theo  laughing  as  he  reached  the  outer  companion- 
way.  A  few  minutes  later  she  appeared  on  deck,  serene  and 
apparently  oblivious  of  the  scene  below.  She  came  where 
Trajan  was  seated  and  declared  that  she  was  dying  for  a 
tramp.  He  was  on  his  feet  in  an  instant  and  the  two  were 
soon  in  the  afternoon  cavalcade,  promenading  under  the 
canopy. 

Trajan  (to  himself)  :  "  What  a  joy  to  i>e  a  man,  to  be  able 
to  give  an  arm  to  so  adorable  a  creature  !  Oh,  what  can't 
I  make  of  my  life  if  it  be  my  good  fortune  to  win  this  great 
gift  !  " 

Theo  (aloud,  adjusting  a  cloud  of  soft  wraps  around  her 
handsome  throat,  and  displaying  the  most  enchanting  curve 
of  wrist,  encased  in  careless  gloves  of  the  sort  called 
mousquetaires)  :  "  Mr.  Gray,  will  you  give  your  immortal 
mind  to  guiding  my  sunshade,  so  that  while  it  preserves  what 
little  complexion  I  have  left  it  will  not  obtrude  any  of  its 


THE  SIREN  SINGS  UNDER  THE  MAST.  167 

sixteen  points  into  the  eyes  of  the  young  men,  who  seem  for 
all  the  world  like  bats  on  shipboard  ? " 

Trajan  (grasping  the  thick  tortoise-shell  handle,  and  so 
manipulating  it  as  to  shut  Theo  out  from  the  gaze  of  the 
envious  young  men — he  was  convinced  they  were  envious — 
and  at  the  same  time  exposing  Theo's  complexion  to  every 
wanton  sun-ray  that  peeped  through  the  canvas  awning, 
thinks,  now  I  ought  to  be  able  to  hold  the  conversation  in 
such  a  way  as  to  find  if  I  really  have  any  chance.  Then 
aloud)  :-"Miss  Carnot,  I  ought  to  win  the  game — with  six 
teen  points  start  !  " 

Theo  (mystified,  but  determined  to  encourage  the  play 
ful  wits)  :  "  But  doesn't  the  game  require  that  both  should 
have  a  cue  ? " 

Trajan  (discomfited  and  shifting  to  another  tack)  : 
"  Points  may  be  the  signs  of  vantage  in  chess  as  well  as 
billiards.  With  sixteen  points  I  should  have  all  of  your 
game  but  a  few  second-rate  pieces  "  (exultingly). 

Theo  (triumphantly)  :  "  In  chess  a  pawn  is  equal  to  a 
king  when  the  game  is  at  a  certain  stage." 

Trajan  (crushing  all  obstacles  and  pitying  the  vanquished) : 
"  But  while  the  pawn  can  never  take  the  king,  any  piece  may 
take  the  queen." 

Theo  (reflectively)  :  "  But  the  queen  can  always  manage 
a  stale  mate." 

Trajan  (with  pity,  turning  to  love)  :  "  Ah,  I  see  you  under 
stand  chess  ;  pray  what  is  there  you  don't  understand  ?  " 

Theo  (sighing  softly  and  looking  far  over  the  waters)  : 
"  I  don't  understand  myself ;  what's  more  I  shouldn't  like 
to  ;  that  is,  if  the  result  should  be  the  same  as  when  one 
comes  to  understand  one's  fellows." 

Trajan  (with  his  heart  thumping  so  vigorously  that  he 
fears  his  companion's  arm  must  feel  the  movement,  and 
asking  himself  what  such  a  wickedly  cynical  speech  could 
mean.  Then  aloud):  "  Surely  you  understand  yourself  when 
you  realize  that  your  kindness  gives  pleasure  to  those  you 


1 68  TRAJAN. 

love  ;  when  you  know  that  your  accomplishments  enliven 
the  spirits  of  a  company  like  this  ;  when  you  know  that  you 
admire  nobleness  rather  than  pretension,  honesty  rather  than 
sham — a  good  deed  rather  than  cruelty.  Honesty  is  the  key 
of  the  heart  and  certainly  there  need  be  no  mystery  about 
understanding  one's  self  !  " 

Artless  Trajan,  he  wanted  to  say  something  fine.  But  not 
knowing  how  far  to  venture  substituted  secondary  for  prin 
cipal  terms.  Love  was  the  word  he  wanted  to  use,  but  he 
dared  not  give  that  as  the  key,  because  if  there  were  no  love 
in  this  fair  creature's  heart  for  him  it  would  have  been  a  poor 
compliment  to  invent  that  as  the  key  to  such  self-knowledge 
as  he  strove  to  make  her  see. 

Theo  (enjoying  the  young  man's  confusion,  and  under 
standing  exactly  the  cause  of  his  incoherence  and  anti 
climax)  :  "  Self-knowledge  I  have — that  comes  from  a  good 
deal  of  self-study.  But  one  may  know  many  a  thing  with 
out  understanding  it.  I  know,  for  example,  that  the  earth 
turns  around  the  sun,  and  not  the  sun  around  the  earth,  as 
my  senses  persuade  me  to  believe  ;  but  I  don't  understand 
it.  I  know  that  this  great  iron  ship  is  sailing  on  water,  and 
my  eyes  tell  me  that  it  should  instantly  sink  as  an  iron  bar 
would  in  a  basin  of  water  ;  but  I  know  that  the  laws  of  force, 
gravitation  and  displacement,  make  it  impossible  for  these 
plowing  tons  of  weight  to  sink  in  these  rolling  wastes  of 
water." 

Trajan  (chagrined  and  astonished  at  his  own  inconse 
quence  and  his  interlocutor's  confident  use  of  scientific  illus 
tration,  but  determined  to  enter  metaphysics  to  relieve  him 
of  his  embarrassment — magisterially)  :  "  The  study  of  self, 
like  that  of  truth,  has  three  principal  objects  :  first,  to  know 
the  virtues  and  vices  of  character  ;  second,  to  be  able  to 
discern  whether  we  possess  the  one  or  the  other  in  the  greater 
number  ;  and  third,  to  be  able  to  distinguish  the  one  from 
the  other.  Now,  reduce  these  maxims  to  first  principles  : 
A  lie  is  a  vice,  a  self-sacrifice  is  a  virtue  ;  cruelty  is  a  vice, 


THE  SIREN  SINGS  UNDER   THE  MAST.  169 

kindness  is  a  virtue  ;  envy  is  a  vice,  generosity  is  a  virtue  ; 
calumny  is  a  vice,  magnanimity  is  a  virtue.  Now  there  is 
nothing  intricate  in  these,  and  I  take  the  boldest  forms  to 
make  myself  most  readily  understood.  You  hate  all  these 
vices,  and  you  admire  all  these  virtues.  So  far  your  heart 
is  an  open  page.  But  all  these  may  be  present  or  absent  in 
degrees,  and  the  sum  of  the  hate  that  one  bears  for  them 
all,  is  the  sum  of  his  goodness,  or,  in  other  words,  his  love 
for  virtue.  One  may  fall  into  errors  as  to  tendencies,  may 
fall  by  the  wayside  when  put  to  the  test  in  phases  of  these 
general  characteristics,  and  to  that  extent  he  is  more  or  less 
imperfect.  But  he  is  conscious  of  his  infirmities  as  the  time 
that  a  dial  keeps,  shows  the  perfection  or  the  defect  in  its 
machinery." 

Theo  (with  a  little  yawn)  :  "  Dear  me,  Mr.  Gray,  one 
would  imagine  you  a  college  professor — are  you  ?  " 

Trajan  (startled  and  disappointed)  :  "  No,  I'm — I'm  a 
painter,  and  do  an  occasional  turn  at  journalism  when  the 
fire  dies  under  the  kettle  in  the  studio." 

Theo  :  "  Delightful — a  painter  ?  Then,  I  suppose,  you 
know  the  Latin  Quarter,  and  have  a  dream  of  a  studio 
there  !  " 

"  Yes,  I  live  in  the  Quarter  ;  but  my  studio  is  a  barren 
reality — peopled  by  dreams." 

Theo  (tentatively)  :  "  My  brother  is  a  law  student,  and 
sometimes  lives  in  the  Quarter.  Perhaps  you  know  him — 
Jules  Carnot  ? " 

"  No.  I  know  very  few  of  the  men  outside  of  the  Beaux 
Arts.  I  hope  I  shall  meet  your  brother  when  I  return." 

Theo  (with  effusion)  :  "  Oh,  you  return  then,  do  you  ? 
How  happy  I  am  !  I  shall  have  one  friend  the  more  in 
Paris.  I  live  there,  you  know." 

Trajan  (sentimentally)  :  "  I  wish  that  I  might  believe  that 
my  presence  in  Paris  would  make  any  difference  to  you." 

Theo  (with  serenity  and  aplomb}  :  "  A  friend  the  more  is 
always  a  gain  in  this  world.  In  such  a  world  as  Paris,  to  be 


1 70  TRAJAN. 

able  to  count  upon  a  man  like  you,  capable  of  such  self- 
sacrifice  as  brought  you  into  notice  in  this  ship,  is  a  boon 
that  any  right-thinking  woman  must  be  proud  to  have." 

When  the  wicked  witch  had  led  the  poor  lad  on  until  the 
amusement  palled,  she  feigned  fatigue  and  with  seductive 
grace  presented  him  a  volume  of  Balzac  to  read  aloud.  And 
so  the  afternoon  passed  away,  and  a  half-dozen  other  after 
noons,  for  the  ship  broke  her  shaft  the  fifth  day  out  and  had 
to  make  for  port  with  sail.  This  prolonged  the  voyage  to 
nearly  two  weeks,  to  Trajan's  great  joy,  who  was  probably 
the  only  one  on  board  that  heard  the  verdict  with  satisfac 
tion.  Ten  days  out  a  terrific  storm  came  on.  The  ship 
was  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  wallowing  in  a  heavy 
sea  and  dense  fog.  At  midnight  the  fog  lifted  and  the  wind 
whistled  through  the  rigging  in  shrieking  discord  almost 
human.  The  storm  rose  to  a  gale  toward  dawn.  The  dark 
ness  was  as  thick  as  the  fog  that  the  wind  had  driven  from 
the  surface  of  the  sea.  So  soon  as  the  pitching,  rolling  and 
plunging  of  the  ship  became  continuous,  the  passengers 
huddled  in  the  dining-room.  The  English  and  Americans 
ventured  on  deck.  Distrusting  the  seamanship  of  the  French, 
they  counted  the  chances  of  safety  as  very  slight.  The 
larger  number  in  the  cabin  faced  the  danger  with  calmness. 

Some  of  the  French  women,  however,  shrieked  with  every 
lurch  of  the  ship  and  imploded  invisible  personages  to  save 
them.  The  night  wore  away  with  things  apparently  going 
from  bad  to  worse.  The  loss  of  the  screw  left  the  ship  at 
the  mercy  of  the  waves.  The  hatches  were  closed,  but  long 
before  morning  objects  were  floating  in  the  cabin,  the  pas 
sengers  having  taken  refuge  on  the  tables  and  settees  as  well 
as  in  their  state-rooms.  Trajan  had  come  out  of  his  state 
room  at  midnight  and  looked  around  for  Theo.  She  was 
nowhere  to  be  seen.  Every  woman  of  the  company  seemed 
to  be  present,  even  Madame  Blaye,  pallid  and  terrified,  with 
her  bairn  hugged  to  her  bosom.  Trajan  went  over  and  com 
forted  the  poor  creature.  "  But  we  shall  sink,'2  she  cried 


THE  SIREN  SINGS  UNDER   THE  MAST.  171 

piteously,  "  we  shall  be  swallowed  in  the  frightful  sea.  Oh,  mon 
Dieu,  mon  Dieu  !  what  an  imbecile  I  was  to  leave  the  land  !  " 

It  was  useless  to  reassure  her.  She  knew  the  vessel 
was  going  down,  and  at  each  lurch  she  dropped  on  her 
knees  pressing  the  little  one  tightly,  closing  her  eyes  and 
expecting  the  gurgling  waters  to  stifle  her.  The  ship  seemed 
fairly  spinning  on  its  beam  ends,  when,  toward  three  o'clock, 
Trajan  saw  Theo.  coming  tranquilly  from  the  passage-way 
leading  to  the  state-rooms.  She  did  not  seem  terrified.  She 
was  dressed  carefully  and  carried  a  small  leather  satchel  in 
her  hand.  She  climbed  over  the  water  as  it  accumulated  at 
the  end  of  the  room,  and  as  Trajan  came  up  and  gave  her. 
his  hand  to  reach  the  table,  her  manner  though  lacking  the 
gayety,  was  as  serene  as  among  the  admiring  group  of  the 
calm  afternoons  on  the  promenade  deck. 

"  I  suppose  we  shall  have  small  chance  to  escape  with 
such  imbeciles  as  the  French  seamen  !  "  she  said  in  her  ordi 
nary  tones,  as  Trajan  sat  down  beside  her. 

"  I  think  we  shall  pull  through,"  replied  Trajan,  surprised 
by  the  girl's  self  control.  "  They  have  been  handling  the 
ship  well,  Armitage  says,  and  if  the  storm  goes  down  with 
sunrise,  we  shall  be  all  right." 

"Meanwhile,  what  measure  have  you  taken  in  the  event  of 
the  worst  ?  "  asked  Theo  with  composure.  "  I  am  dressed 
ready  for  the  small  boats  and  confide  myself  to  you  !  " 

Trajan  trembled  and  his  heart  gave  a  great  leap.  "  What 
ever  human  arm  can  do,  Miss  Carnot,  to  rescue  you  from  peril, 
I  will  do.  It  is  no  time  to  tell  you  the  grateful  joy  that  fills 
my  heart  that  you  should  have  conferred  this  priceless  privi 
lege  upon  me."  She  rewarded  him  with  a  ravishing  smile 
of  confidence. 

The  night  seemed  reluctant  to  break.  The  great  ship 
rolling  and  plunging  desperately,  rose  almost  perpendicular 
for  a  moment ;  then  meeting  a  mountain  of  water,  fairly 
stood  suspended,  quivering,  and  fell  until  the  brain  reeled 
with  the  giddy  speed. 


172  TRAJAN. 

The  morning  broke  clear  and  cold  and  the  ship  tore  on 
under  a  wan  and  threatening  sky,  over  masses  of  crashing 
waters,  that  fairly  resembled  liquid  icebergs,  so  solid  and 
compact  did  they  rise  on  either  hand  before  breaking  over 
the  deck.  The  sun  arose  and  the  wind  calmed  as  suddenly  as 
it  began,  but  the  swell  of  the  sea  still  flowed  and  fell  in  vast 
furrows  of  icy  water. 

A  fog  followed,  but  relieved  of  the  more  acute  movement 
of  storm  and  wave,  the  passengers  brightened  up  into  viva 
cious  confidence.  The  ship  was  flying  under  full  sail,  for 
the  captain  dared  not  slack  before  the  gale.  It  was  midday 
and  the  table  was  set  for  lunch,  with  all  who  were  able  about 
it,  when  the  vessel  suddenly  trembled  and  a  great  crash  could 
be  heard  forward  !  The  men  ran  to  the  deck.  The  women 
turned  pale  and  clasped  their  hands.  Every  eye  was  elo 
quent  with  despairing  inquiry,  while  ever,y  lip  was  mute. 
Trajan  had  rushed  above  before  the  vibrations  ceased.  He 
suspected  a  collision  with  a  ship  or  iceberg,  but  every  thing 
was  shrouded  in  mystery  on  deck.  The  captain  vouchsafed 
no  details  ;  the  officers,  under  the  strict  discipline  of 
their  chief,  refused  to  answer  the  questions  asked  them. 
But  Armitage  knew  from  the  manuveers  of  the  mate  and  the 
gangs  at  the  small  boats  that  the  crisis  was  at  hand.  He 
warned  Trajan  to  be  prepared  to  fight  his  way  into  the  life 
boats  if  need  be.  On  this  hint  the  latter  wrote  on  a  sheet  of 
his  note-book  : 

"  Get  ready,  in  the  smallest  space  you  can,  what  is  indis 
pensable,  and  be  prepared  at  the  foot  of  the  staircase  when 
you  hear  your  name  called. — T.  G." 

As  he  passed  to  his  room  to  prepare  himself,  he  slipped 
this  into  Theo's  hand.  As  he  returned,  she  gave  him  a 
glance  of  confidence  and  comprehension.  Armitage  arranged 
with  Trajan  that  one  of  them  should  stand  by  the  boat 
on  the  side  away  from  the  wind,  with  a  pistol  in  his  hand, 
while  the  other  marshaled  such  of  the  ladies  as  cared  to  ven 
ture  in  the  small  boat.  There  were  nearly  a  thousand  souls  on 


THE  SIREN  SINGS  UNDER   THE  MAST.  173 

board — 600  emigrants,  300  first  cabin,  and  the  crew.  The 
boats  could  not,  even  in  a  smooth  sea,  hold  a  third  of  these. 
The  ship's  carpenter,  upon  whom  Armitage  kept  his  eye, 
emerged  from  the  hold  in  the  forward  part  of  the  ship  and 
made  a  report  to  the  captain.  That  officer  made  angry  re 
ply  ;  the  sailors  near  the  group  suddenly  suspended  their 
work,  and,  as  if  by  a  common  signal,  rushed  to  the  boats. 
They  surrounded  him  with  pale  faces.  He  gave  the  sub 
stance  of  the  carpenter's  report.  A  deep  dent  had  been 
made  in  the  iron  plates  of  the  bow.  There  was  a  slight  flow 
of  water  in  the  bulkheads,  but  there  was  absolutely  no  ground 
for  despairing  while  the  fires  held  out  and  the  pumps  could 
be  worked.  He  ordered  the  officers  to  take  their  pistols  and 
force  the  men  back  to  their  duties.  He  set  the  example 
himself  by  confronting  the  group  at  the  first  boat. 

While  trying  to  sleep,  toward  three  in  the  morning,  a  low 
voice  at  Trajan's  ear  aroused  him. 

"  I  think  our  time  has  come,"  said  the  Englishman.  "  I 
heard  the  captain  tell  the  mate  that  the  water  had  put  out 
the  lower  fires.  Now,  you  go  and  call  Miss  Carnot.  Tell 
her  that  we  can  not  undertake  to  care  for  more  than  one 
woman  each.  And  (to  spare  herself  the  anguish  of  quit 
ting  the  others)  to  let  them  remain  sleeping.  I  shall  wait 
for  you  by  the  skylight  facing  the  smoke-house." 

Trajan  tapped  lightly  at  Theo's  door.  It  was  instantly 
opened.  "Is  that  you,  Mr.  Gray?"  she  asked. 

"  Yes.  Are  you  ready  to  go  on  deck  ?  We  may  have  to 
quit  the  vessel  at  any  moment.  Armitage  will  care  for 
your  friend,  Mrs.  Marquand,  and  I  will  devote  myself  to 
you." 

"  I  shall  be  with  you  in  an  instant.  You  may  just  as  well 
wait  for  us  above.  We  can  reach  the  rendezvous  with  less 
chance  of  creating  alarm  if  we  go  alone." 

By  seven  o'clock  the  council  of  officers  were  convinced 
that  the  boats  should  be  gotten  ready,  and  the  captain  was 
aroused.  He  confirmed  the  judgment  of  the  council,  and 


174  TRAJAN. 

without  any  undue  sign  of  emotion  he  came  into  the  cabin, 
and  in  a  few  words  announced  that  he  thought  the  ship  was 
in  danger  of  sinking  ;  that  those  who  cared  to  should  be 
prepared  to  take  to  the  lifeboats  ;  that  if  good  order  were 
maintained  every  cabin  passenger  would  find  room  ;  but 
that  haste  or  crowding  would  swamp  the  boats  ;  those  who 
chose  to  remain  on  board  should  aid  the  others  in  getting 
into  the  small  boats  ;  as  for  himself,  he  proposed  to  stand 
by  his  ship  until  she  went  down  !  Trajan  had  listened  to 
this  brief  seaman-like  statement,  expecting  an  outbreak  of 
terror  when  its  import  was  realized.  To  his  amazement 
there  was  not  a  cry.  A  great  sigh  swept  through  the  crowd, 
but  nothing  more. 

In  ten  minutes  there  were  two  hundred  people  on  deck. 
A  line  of  sailors,  flanked  by  stout  ropes,  stood  between  the 
first-class  and  emigrant  deck  holding  the  third-class  pas 
sengers  back  in  case  they  made  a  rush.  But  these  poor 
creatures,  deceived  by  the  easier  motion  of  the  vessel,  were 
unsuspicious  of  the  impending  danger,  and  occupied  them 
selves  with  breakfast.  During  the  night  all  the  forward 
boats  had  been  brought  to  the  rear  of  the  ship.  The  com 
paratively  easy  motion  made  it  possible  to  swing  them  to 
the  davits  so  soon  as  the  others  were  lowered.  The  first 
boat,  with  twenty  women  and  ten  men,  beside  six  sailors, 
reached  the  water  safely.  The  second  did  not  fare  so  well. 
It  was  dashed  against  the  ship,  overturned,  and  its  load  of 
fifty  scattered  in  the  waves.  Some  of  them  were  rescued, 
but  the  larger  number  were  whirled  out  of  sight  in  the  boil 
ing  waters.  This  checked  the  fever  of  many  to  embark. 

Fully  sixty  returned  to  the  cabin,  preferring  to  die  peace 
fully,  supported  by  human  companionship,  rather  than  risk 
the  horrors  of  the  small  boats.  Trajan,  Armitage,  Theo, 
Mrs.  Marquand,  and  twenty  others  were  assigned  to  the 
stern  boat,  commanded  by  the  second  mate.  The  pro 
visions,  instruments  of  navigation,  and  a  plentiful  supply  of 
wrappings,  were  packed  into  the  boat.  The  first  woman 


THE  SIREN  SINGS  UNDER   THE  AT  A  ST.  175 

lowered,  in  her  terror,  fell  into  the  sea,  and  was  swirled 
under  the  waves.  For  a  moment  the  rest  shrank  from  fol 
lowing,  and  many  fled  back  to  the  cabin.  Theo  came 
promptly  forward,  and  was  lowered  into  the  boat.  It  was 
soon  full ;  but  as  the  vessel  still  offered  a  faint  possibility  of 
rescue,  as  signal-guns  were  firing  and  distress  signals  flying, 
the  boat  was  not  cut  off.  Six  boats  were  lowered,  as  Trajan 
could  see,  counting  them  as  they  were  left  far  in  the  rear. 

The  little  boat,  heavily  laden,  was  soon  wretchedly 
uncomfortable  quarters.  The  men  were  divided  into  reliefs 
for  bailing  it  out,  and  some  of  the  women  insisted  on  shar 
ing  the  toil.  The  day  dragged  on  miserably.  The  ship 
still  rode  the  water,  and  gave  no  signs  of  going  down.  The 
fog  gradually  raised,  and  when  night  came  the  stars  could 
be  seen.  The  mate  judged  that  the'ship  was  not  far  from 
Newfoundland — within  two  days'  run  of  New  York  under 
ordinary  circumstances.  The  sun  rose  in  a  clear  sky  ;  the 
sea  became  more  restless  ;  but  the  vessel  did  not  seem  to 
advance  perceptibly.  Toward  noon  several  of  the  small 
boats  under  sail  could  be  seen  within  range.  Suddenly  the 
danger  signal  on  the  ship  was  seen  to  dip.  Then  the  report 
of  a  cannon  was  heard.  The  officer  on  the  bridge  in  great 
excitement  swept  the  sea  with  his  glass  :  "  Glory  to  the 
Mother  of  God  !  "  he  shouted,  "we  are  saved.  Yonder  is  a 
ship  of  our  own  line  and  bound  for  our  own  port."  * 

Then  there  was  excitement,  and  the  sudden  movement  of 
the  people  to  see  the  deliverance  at  hand  put  the  little  craft 
in  more  deadly  peril  than  she  had  yet  encountered.  But  the 
good  news  was  true.  The  great  black  line  of  a  steamer 
drove  rapidly  in  sight.  Boats  were  lowered,  and  within  two 
hours  the  passengers  in  the  small  boats  were  transferred  to 
the  new  comer,  which  proved  to  be  the  Ville  du  Havre,  of 
the  French  line.  She  took  her  sister  ship  in  tow,  and  three 
days  later  both  arrived  safely  in  New  York  harbor. 

Meanwhile,  Trajan  had  been  counting  on  the  peril  to 
repress  the  exuberance  of  his  divinity.  But  that  extraordi- 


176  TRAJAN. 

nary  young  person,  though  grave,  never  softened  into  the 
mood  which  the  most  obtuse  lover  knows  to  be  essential  to 
love-making.  In  the  small  boat,  it  is  true,  there  had  been 
no  opportunity,  even  for  those  electric  glances  that  some 
times  ease  a  lover's  miseries. 

When  the  ships  had  come  to  anchor  at  quarantine,  the 
passengers  were  restored  to  the  abandoned  vessel  to  reclaim 
their  baggage.  Theo  had  come  on,  ready  to  land  in  a 
bewitching  street  costume  of  the  strikingly  modest  sort  this 
young  woman,  of  all  her  sex,  seemed  to  know  best  how  to 
manage.  She  had  much  on  her  active  mind  now  that  the 
fateful  voyage  had  come  to  a  close.  She  had  managed  her 
undeclared  lover  with  consummate  address.  She  had  been 
winning,  sympathetic,  but  never  tender.  She  was  always 
sufficiently  mistress  of  the  moment  and  of  herself  to  freeze 
the  genial  current  of  his  lover  soul. 

Strive  as  he  would,  he  could  not  get  into  words  what  she 
read  in  his  appealing  eyes.  It  was  by  drollery,  ridicule  and 
inconsequence  she  held  the  poor  fellow  from  the  declaration 
he  was  dying  but  not  daring  to  make.  She  had  learned  his 
purpose  of  remaining  in  New  York  only  a  month,  and  quite 
incidentally,  shortly  afterward,  let  him  know  that  she  should 
be  in  New  Orleans  until  September — it  was  then  July. 
Trajan  had  hoped  that  he  should  see  her  in  New  York. 
She  sighed  as  she  regretted  the  impossibility,  but  hoped  for 
better  fortune  when  they  should  both  find  themselves  in 
Paris.  The  vision  of  it  gave  Trajan's  face  the  glow  of  an 
afternoon  sunset.  As  the  vessel  lay  idly  in  the  stream  at 
quarantine,  awaiting  the  customs  inspectors,  Theo  took  the 
vacant  seat  by  Trajan.  She  was  in  the  greatest  embarrass 
ment — she  confided  to  the  young  man.  Trajan  assumed  an 
air  that  proclaimed  his  readiness  to  emulate  the  twelve  tasks 
of  Hercules. 

"  Have  you  much  baggage,  Mr.  Gray  ?"  she  asked,  avert 
ing  her  yellowish  green  eyes  so  that  the  mere  edge  of  their 
fascinating  sparkle  was  visible  to  the  young  man. 


THE  SIREN  SINGS-UNDER  THE  MAST.  177 

Trajan  laughed  ;  "  No,"  he  said,  "  I'm  in  light  marching 
order ;  two  small  portmanteaus  with  change  of  clothing 
and  unfinished  sketches." 

"  How  fortunate  !  "  she  sighed.  "  My  wretched  brother 
had  arranged  to  catch  the  steamer  at  Brest,  and  his  trunks 
were  put  on  at  Havre  with  mine.  They  are  filled  with  all 
sorts  of  men's  trappings,  and  of  course  I  could  not  pass 
them  at  the  custom-house.  I  want  to  save  the  delay  and 
the  duties  as  well,  for  you  know,"  she  added,  "women  are 
born  smugglers,  and  I  am  going  to  ask  you  to  take  the  keys 
and  assume  ownership." 

Trajan  was  enchanted  to  relieve  the  helpless  sister  from 
the  brother's  burdensome  charge.  He  welcomed  it  as  a 
mark  of  confidence  and  a  sign  of  future  intimacy,  when  the 
hurry  of  travel  would  not  interfere  with  his  woo.ing.  She 
bade  the  young  man  farewell  as  the  vessel  touched  the  dock 
and  gave  him  an  address  to  send  the  keys  to,  with  the  trunks. 
She  was  going  immediately  with  friends  to  the  country. 
Trajan  took  the  pretty  gloved  hand,  not  daring  to  venture 
on  a  gentle  pressure. 

Theo's  friends  were  looking  on,  and  Trajan  murmured  a 
low  farewell.  He  was  not  questioned  by  the  customs 
officials  as  to  his  ownership  of  the  trunks,  but  to  his  great 
annoyance  the  officer,  on  examining  the  contents,  declared 
that  they  would  have  to  be  sent  to  the  office,  and  asked  the 
young  man  for  his  address.  Ignorant  of  the  contents,  Tra 
jan  could  make  no  coherent  objection,  and  deeply  chagrined 
he  set  out  for  his  lodgings.  The  next  day,  as  Trajan  was 
about  quitting  his  room,  a  card  was  handed  him.  He  didn't 
recognize  the  name.  On  entering  the  parlor  an  elderly  man 
with  a  keen,  scrutinizing  pair  of  eyes  arose  and  asked  : 

"  Mr.  Trajan  Gray  ? " 

Trajan  affirmed  the  fact,  when  the  stranger  proceeded  at 

once  to  inform  him  that  he  was  from   the  detective  branch 

of  the  customs   office,  and  his  mission  was  to  learn  if  the 

trunks  delivered  to  the  inspector  of  the  day  before  were 

12 


178  TRAJAN. 

really  Mr.   Gray's  property.     Trajan   hesitated  to  answer, 
and  the  man  having  waited  a  moment  continued  : 

"If  the  property  is  yours  you  must  appear  before  the  col 
lector  to  answer  certain  interrogations." 

"  What  reason  have  you  to  doubt  that  the  trunks  are 
mine  ?  "  asked  Trajan,  defiantly. 

"We  don't  doubt  it,"  answered  the  official,  blandly  ;  "we 
know  they  are  not  yours — we  know  the  owners,  and  we 
know  how  you  came  to  be  charged  with  their  entry  into  the 
port !  " 

"  Oh,  very  well ;  since  you  know  all  about  them,  I  have 
no  further  responsibility.  You  will,  I  suppose,  deliver  them 
to  the  owner  when  your  formalities  have  been  complied 
with ; "  and  he  delivered  the  keys  and  address  to  the 
official. 

"  That's  business,"  commented  the  man,  as  he  retired, 
"you  have  acted  wisely,  young  man." 

But  Trajan  was  not  convinced  of  this.  He  felt  that  Theo 
would  be  plagued  with  the  affair,  and  he  reproached  himself 
for  not  foreseeing  the  contretemps.  She  had  left  the  city, 
and  he  knew  of  no  means  of  reaching  her  save  by  sending 
a  note  to  the  address  to  which  she  had  directed  him  to  send 
the  trunks.  This  he  did  at  once,  going  over  the  whole  case 
and  regretting  any  annoyance  his  failure  might  cause  his 
charming  friend.  The  note  might  be  forwarded  to  her  at 
New  Orleans,  and  he  might,  he  thought  with  a  glow,  hear 
from  her  before  he  returned  to  France.  His  business  in  New 
York  was  a  law  suit,  and  he  was  kept  in  the  courts  pretty 
constantly  during  the  week.  One  day,  as  he  was  passing 
Stewart's — in  those  days  the  universal  bazar  for  women — 
he  caught  sight  of  a  form  that  seemed  familiar  entering  a 
coupe.  His  pulse  quickened  as  well  as  his  steps,  but  before 
he  could  get  near  enough  to  see  the  face,  the  horses  were 
careering  rapidly  up  Broadway.  He  looked  in  vain  for  a 
cab  to  follow,  but  in  a  few  moments  he  had  lost  sight  of  the 
coupe*.  He  was  sure  that  he  had  seen  Theo  No  other 


THE  SIREN  SINGS  UNDER   THE  MAST.          179 

woman  had  that  graceful,  bird-like  movement  of  the  neck, 
and  that  individuality  of  costuming.  What  could  it  mean  ? 
Had  the  news  of  the  seizure  of  the  trunks  arrested  her 
Southern  journey?  But  if  so,  she  would  have  certainly 
sent  him  her  address. 

Armitage  called  the  day  after.  They  had  breakfast 
together  and  drove  to  High  Bridge  afterward.  The  English 
man  was  full  of  amazement  and  grumbling.  He  divided 
every  thing  he  had  thus  far  seen  into  two  bulks — one 
"  beastly  "  and  the  other  "stunning."  The  filth  of  the  city 
astounded  him,  the  luxury  of  the  hotels  and  private  resi 
dences  appalled  him.  Seated  at  breakfast  he  interrupted  his 
amusing  comments  on  the  country  to  say  : 

"  I  say,  I  saw  our  stormy^)etrel  yesterday." 

"  Who  ?  "  asked  Trajan,  not  identifying  the  person  thus 
figuratively  apotheosized. 

"  Our  heroine,  Miss  Carnot." 

"  Oh,  no,  that  isn't  possible  ;  she  left  for  the  South  a 
week  ago." 

"  Well,  she's  returned,  I  assure  you,  for  I  saw  her  yester 
day  at  a  shop  in  Broadway.  I  couldn't  very  well  mistake 
the  person.  I  defy  any  one  to  see  her  once  and  confound 
her  with  any  body  else." 

Trajan  related  his  own  adventure  and  the  coincidence  was 
dismissed.  Returning  from  High  Bridge  toward  six  o'clock, 
the  carrriage  with  our  friends  was  blocked  for  a  few  minutes 
just  before  emerging  into  Fifth  Avenue.  Trajan  was  watch 
ing  the  crowds  on  the  footway,  when  Armitage  suddenly 
seized  his  arm,  with  the  exclamation  : 

"  There,  by  Jove  !  if  that  isn't  the  petrel,  then  I'm  not  in 
my  senses."  Trajan  barely  caught  sight  of  a  figure  as  the 
carriage  shot  past,  and  he,  too,  was  sure  that  Theo  and  no 
other  was  the  person.  It  was  too  late  to  turn  and  follow 
the  other  vehicle,  even  if  the  carriage  could  have  been  extri 
cated  from  the  blockade.  There  was  no  available  pretext 
that  would  have  imposed  upon  Armitage,  and  Trajan  shrunk 


l8o  TRAJAN. 

from  exposing  his   young   passion    to  that  jocular  cynic's 
pleasantries. 

A  week  later  he  embarked  for  Europe  and  was  soon 
absorbed  in  his  old  artist  life.  He  found  means  of  meeting 
Carnot,  however,  and  explained  the  facts  bearing  on  his 
luckless  trunks.  Jules  changed  color  when  the  incident  was 
mentioned,  but  when  the  finale  was  reached  looked  relieved. 
He  thanked  Trajan,  warmly,  and  informed  him  that  the 
affair  had  been  settled.  There  had  been  some  gloves  or 
other  dutiable  trifles  sent  his  friends,  and  the  custom-house 
had  collected  ten  times  their  value.  About  Theo  he  said 
nothing,  but  Trajan  hoped  for  other  opportunities  to  inquire 
about  that  charming  being. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

"  EVERY  DOOR  JS  BARRED  WITH  GOLD." 

TIME,  the  tamer,  held  a  loose  rein  on  Trajan's  heart  and 
'  hope  during  the  next  few  blissful  months.  He  lived 
and  moved  in  the  exaltation  of  love's  lucid  atmosphere.  He 
nourished  the  image  his  hope  created  with  all  the  forces  and 
fibres  of  heart  and  brain.  His  hope  fed  upon  his  mental 
vitals,  as  the  young  of  the  pelican  feeds  upon  the  physical. 
Its  roseate  promise  broadened  his  horizon  and  stirred  his 
vitalities  to  unheard-of  effort.  Living  on  his  fancies  alone, 
his  work  was  a  joy  and  Lis  forces  tenfold.  Doubt  was  a 
blank,  the  future  a  dream — tangible,  real,  stimulating.  Never 
had  his  imagination  responded  with  such  subtle  delicacy  to 
his  artistic  longings  ;  never  had  his  brush  embodied  so 
readily  the  airy  shapes  of  the  mind.  His  nimble  fingers 
could  hardly  keep  up  with  the  teeming  fancies  created  by 
his  ardent  impulse. 

Most  men,  when  they  love  for  the  first  time,  live  on  the 


"EVERY  DOOR  IS  BARRED  WITH  GOLD."        l8l 

image  of  their  love.  Trajan  was  recreated  in  his — it  was 
his  armor — armor,  did  I  say  ?  It  was  shield,  spear  and  bat 
tle-axe  !  Panoplied  in  it,  he  went  forth  to  combat  with  a 
serenity  that  was  proof  against  every  form  that  "  the  slings 
and  arrows  of  outrageous  fortune  "  take.  Never  had  his 
brain  responded  in  such  fecundity  to  his  touch  as  now.  His 
next  picture  took  the  second  prize  of  the  year  in  the  Salon, 
and  he  waited  with  buoyant  eagerness  to  lay  his  laurels  at 
the  shrine  of  his  goddess.  Theo  had  written  Jules  of  the 
young  man's  devotion  on  the  memorable  voyage,  and  Trajan 
was  welcomed  cordially  in  the  Rue  Galilee. 

Papa  Carnot  overwhelmed  him  with  effusive  testimony. 
Clare  made  him  feel  that  he  was  no  stranger,  in  her  unde 
monstrative  way.  The  young  man  was  hungry  to  hear  of 
Theo  !  When  was  she  to  come  back  ?  His  heart  sank  dis 
mally  when  it  Was  announced  that  she  had  been  forced  to 
put  off  her  return  indefinitely.  Trajan  was  gloomy  com 
pany  after  that.  He  racked  his  brain  for  some  device  to 
make  it  possible  to  enter  into  direct  correspondence  ;  but 
he  remarked  that  the  family  were  very  reticent  in  alluding 
to  Theo's  plans.  However,  he  meant  to  be  patient,  and  win 
the  confidence  of  the  household.  His  visits  to  the  Rue 
Galilee  were  thenceforth  regular,  if  not  altogether  comfort 
ing.  But  Theo,  evidently  by  intention,  was  rarely  mentioned. 
He  obtained  a  photograph  one  day  from  Clare,  and  set  to 
work  with  rapture  to  make  a  portrait  to  surprise  her  when 
she  returned. 

Poor  boy  !  the  happy,  happy  hours  he  spent  over  it,  and 
when  it  was  done,  Pygmalion-like,  dreamed  it  was  the  reality. 
There  was  great  wonder  in  the  Rue  Galilee  when  this  mas 
terpiece  came  to  hand.  Trajan  blushed  and  palpitated  with 
joy  at  the  encomiums  of  the  family.  It  was  Theo  to  the 
life,  they  protested.  Never  had  such  a  bit  of  portraiture 
been  seen  !  Jules  was  loudest  of  all  in  the  jubilee.  The 
technique  he  declared  to  be  fine  as  Bonnat  or  Duran,  and 
insisted  that  it  must  go  to  the  next  Salon. 


1 82  TRAJAN. 

Still  the  months  dragged  on.  Theo  had  desired  her 
warmest  remembrances  to  be  given  to  her  marine  hero,  and 
Trajan  was  lost  in  dreams  for  a  week,  wherein  his  Anadyo- 
mene  was  confusedly  identified  with  a  vivacious  young  per 
son,  of  a  yellowish-gray  cast  of  eye  and  nut-brown  complex 
ion.  At  last,  on  a  day  that  remained  in  Trajan's  mind  long 
after  as  a  season  of  roses,  rainbow  hues  and  amaranthine 
atmosphere,  the  news  came  that  the  petrel  was  to  take  ship 
the  next  week  for  home.  A  wild  purpose  to  be  at  Havre, 
nay,  to  go  to  Brest,  and  welcome  Ariadne  came  into  his  mind, 
but  he  shrank  from  the  audacious  evidence  of  self-esteem 
and  devotion.  The  studio  that  had  witnessed  a  year  of 
prodigies,  was  for  the  next  ten  days  intolerable. 

He  walked  the  streets  lost  in  delicious  reverie,  the  old 
grinning  faces  that  looked  down  from  immemorial  stones, 
transforming  themselves  into  fairy  forms  whispering  welcome 
to  the  queen  that  was  coming  over  the  sea.  By  a  mighty 
effort  he  let  the  whole  day  pass  after  Theo  reached  the  Rue 
Galilee — where  you  may  be  sure  the  lad  was  watching — 
for  the  intoxicating  joy  of  seeing  her  pass  with  her  boxes 
from  the  cab  to  the  door.  It  was  a  wonder  that  Theo,  who 
rarely  missed  any  thing,  had  not  detected  her  adorer,  for  in 
the  rapture  of  the  first  glimpse  he  started  impulsively  from 
his  concealment,  but  drew  back  crimsoning  at  his  own  folly. 

The  next  day  his  impatience  could  hold  out  no  longer.  He 
was  at  the  Rue  Galilee  at  the  very  first  hour  admissible  by 
convention  for  a  gentleman's  call.  He  ascended  the  four 
long  stairs,  as  birds  may  be  supposed  to  reach  their  airy 
bowers.  His  card  was  taken  in  by  Celeste,  who  had  come 
to  regard  the  young  man  with  undisguised  approval.  She 
smiled  encouragingly. 

"  Yes,  Mademoiselle  Theo  is  come,  and  the  voyage  has 
been  agreeable." 

Trajan  sat  in  the  charming  boudoir-like  salon,  every  object 
in  it  eloquent  of  Theo's  incomparable  taste  and  adaptiveness. 
The  impatient  lover  started  as  the  door  opened  ;  he  sank 


"EVERY  DOOR  IS  BARRED  WITH  GOLD."        183 

back  speechless  as  Clare  came  into  the  room.  Theo 
"  begged  her  kind  friend  to  excuse  her  to-day.  She  was 
worn  out,  and  immersed  in  certain  business  affairs  which 
were  pressing.  Wouldn't  Mr.  Gray  call  on  Saturday  and 
dine?" 

Trajan  found  voice,  to  thank  Clare  and  accept.  Then, 
dimly  imagining  that  Clare  must  be  shocked  at  his  dullness, 
he  excused  himself,  declaring  that  she  ought  to  grudge  these 
first  moments  with  her  sister,  and  retreated.  He  was  a  good 
deal  shaken  by  this  rebuff.  He  walked  aimlessly  down  the 
avenue  to  the  Park  Monceau,  and  sat  down  in  the  secluded 
corner  of  one  of  the  copses.  He  could  not  at  first  realize  the 
sensation.  Presently  the  stunning  sense  of  the  stroke  subsided, 
and  he  began  to  reason.  How  stupid  he  had  been  !  Of 
course,  he  was  hasty,  selfish,  and  even  ill-bred,  to  presume 
upon  his  small  claims  to  be  received  so  soon. 

The  poor  girl  had  been  worn  out  by  the  twelve  days'  jour 
ney  on  the  slow  French  line,  and  then  the  eight  hours  by 
rail  and  the  half  day  in  the  custom-house  atthestation  !  He 
ought  to  have  known  better,  he  declared,  with  a  great  ray  of 
comfort  breaking  in  on  him  in  the  misery  of  the  first  lugu 
brious  stupefaction.  He  saw  it  all  now.  She  was  not,  per 
haps,  even  dressed  when  he  sent  Celeste  to  her  a  few  minutes 
ago.  But  reason  shattered  some  of  the  frail  fabric  of  this 
roseate  sophistry.  If  she  had  real  feeling  for  him,  a  tithe  of 
what  he  felt,  no  fatigue,  no  affairs  less  important  than  life  or 
death  would  have  prevented  her  seeing  him  for  a  moment,  if 
only  to  press  his  hand  and  look  to  see  if  the  true  light  still 
flamed  as  a  beacon  in  his  eyes  !  He  counted  the  days  of 
probation.  It  was  then  Tuesday  !  What  could  he  do  with 
himself  meanwhile  ?  The  studio  was  intolerable.  Oh,  fool  ! 
if  he  had  but  kept  the  portrait,  he  thought,  he  would  have  a 
pretext  for  inviting  her  over.  Stay  !  He  had  heard  of  her 
devotion  to  Jules.  He  didn't  much  fancy  Jules,  but  he 
would  get  a  portrait  of  that  favored  youth  ready  and  unmask 
it  before  her  in  the  studio  ! 


I 84  TRAJAN. 

Now  he  had  something  to  occupy  him  ;  for  wasn't  he 
working  for  her  ?  Luckily  he  knew  where  Jules's  photograph 
was  to  be  found.  He  had  noticed  the  name  when  looking 
over  the  family  album.  In  a  twinkling  he  was  in  a  cab  and 
in  a  half-hour  he  had  secured,  from  the  great  Nadar  himself, 
in  the  Rue  d'Anjou  St.  Honore,  the  aristocratic  profile  of  his 
beloved's  next  of  kin. 

I  protest  that  the  epos  of  love  like  this  should  have  a  ver 
nacular  of  its  own.  It  is  a  desecration  to  tell  of  such  hopes 
and  fear,  such  heroism,  such  faith,  such  constancy,  as  Tra 
jan's  in  the  worn  shreds  and  patches  that  paint  the  every-day 
follies  of  mankind.  Day  and  night,  to  the  great  distress  of 
Madame  Betty  and  Trip,  whose  blinking  eyes  followed  him  in 
wonder,  the  restless  devotee  toiled  over  the  labor  of  love.  By 
Saturday  the  portrait  was  fairly  in  colors.  It  required  but  a 
few  touches  to  make  it  perfect — not  the  speaking  marvel  of 
natural  grace  and  radiant  enthusiasm  that  the  portrait  of 
Theo  presented — for  not  only  the  air  and  the  sky  but  the 
flowers  of  the  field  had  been  plundered  to  make  that  a 
masterpiece.  Still  Trajan  was  not  wholly  dissatisfied,  and 
that  is  strong  testimony  for  a  lover's  work  to  be  laid  as  a 
tribute  at  the  feet  of  his  mistress  ! 

The  honest  lad  kept  himself  busy  with  this  self-imposed 
task  until  the  very  last  minute — so  that  his  eagerness  should 
not  push  him  too  early  on  the  scene.  It  was  five  o'clock 
when  Celeste  welcomed  him  with  her  most  friendly  smile  in 
the  Rue  Galilee.  He  did  not  ask  for  any  one — but  merely 
sent  in  his  name.  He  had  put  himself  under  severe 
restraint  ;  but  he  felt  his  temples  throbbing  as  he  stood  look 
ing  out  of  the  window.  He  turned  as  he  heard  a  step 
approaching.  It  was  not  Theo  ;  he  knew  before  he  turned 
that  it  was  not ;  but  his  heart  sank  none  the  less. 

"  Make  yourself  comfortable,  Mr.  Gray,"  said  Clare,  in 
what  for  her  was  a  cordial  tone.  "  Theo  was  obliged  to  go 
into  the  city  this  morning.  She  should  have  been  back  before 
this*  I  expect  her  every  minute." 


"EVERY  DOOR  IS  BAXRED  WITH  GOLD."         I  #5 

Six  o'clock  came  and  the  soul  of  the  scene  was  still  want 
ing.  At  half  after  six  dinner  was  served  and  Trajan,  too 
sad  to  talk,  sat  down  silently. 

The  solemn  banquet  was  half  over  when  the  bell  rang  and 
Theo,  without  waiting  to  remove  her  bonnet,  tripped  into 
the  room  with  a  stream  of  charming  apologies  pouring  from 
her  breathless  lips.  She  was  followed  by  Jules,  who  began  to 
explain  as  Theo  gave  her  two  gloved  hands  to  Trajan, 
meanwhile  protesting  the  odiousness  of  her  conduct  and  her 
hopelessness  of  pardon.  But  it  would  have  been  more  than 
a  sin  of  omission  that  Trajan  could  not  forgive.  Her  ardent 
eyes  were  on  him  ;  her  willful  gaiety  in  all  its  impressive 
versatility  was  in  his  ears.  He  was  as  absolutely  under  the 
spell  as  the  helpless  prince  under  Ariel's  wand,  Prospero's 
plots  and  Miranda's  beauties.  But  there  was  none  of  the 
virtue  of  compassion  in  this  witch's  art.  She  bubbled  and 
glistened  and  sparkled  during  the  dinner  and  evening.  She 
had  a  thousand  questions  to  ask  Trajan.  She  narrated  with 
inimitable  drollery  the  scenes  of  the  voyage,  Trajan's  debut 
as  hero,  and  wound  up  by  asking  the  young  man  if  he  had 
heard  any  thing  further  of  his  "baby."  Tantalized  and 
delighted,  he  was  horrified*  when  in  a  lull  in  the  conversation 
he  found  that  no  one  was  in  the  salon  but  Theo,  Jules  and 
himself.  It  was  eleven  o'clock.  Theo  had  chidden  him 
sweetly  for  wasting  precious  time  over  the  wonderful  por 
trait  and  vowed  that  such  a  hand  should  occupy  itself  with 
emperors,  kings  and  princes  alone,  and  that  she  meant  to 
have  the  Empress  sit  for  him.  Trajan  winced. 

"  I  have  another  portrait  that  I  think  you  will  be  inter 
ested  in.  I  want  you  to  come  over  with  Miss  Carnot  and 
your  brother  to  see  it  on  the  easel,  and  suggest  such  changes 
as  are  needed — for  it  is  a  friend  of  yours." 

Then,  very  happy,  and  dreaming  dreams,  Trajan  went  out 
into  the  glorious  moonlight,  and  when  he  lay  down  in  his 
studio  the  sun  had  lighted  the  world  and  was  flooding  the 
eastern  gables  of  the  great  city. 


1 86  TRAJAN. 

What  need  to  prolong  the  piteous  story  ?  Weeks  and 
months  went  by  in  this  blissful  purgatory  for  Trajan.  She 
was  always  gay,  pungent  and  sympathetic.  She  knew  how 
to  stimulate  the  young  man's  pride  in  his  art.  Indeed,  Tra 
jan  never  attained  the  perfect  mastery  of  form  and  color  he 
reached  during  Theo's  vicarious  regency.  She  was  not 
always  accessible  to  her  adorer.  For  weeks  at  a  time  she 
was  with  grand  friends  at  Compiegne,  where  the  court  gave 
great  fetes,  and  Theo,  by  the  command  of  the  Empress,  had 
her  part  to  play.  But  Trajan  had  found  time  to  broach  the 
subject  of  his  hopes.  He  had  not  been  discouraged  in  set 
terms.  Theo  had  turned  the  conversation  in  the  most 
bewitching  way.  Once,  as  if  by  accident,  she  had  expressed 
earnest  disapproval  of  marriages  between  people  without 
assured  means  !  A  man  must  be  very  selfish,  she  affirmed, 
to  ask  a  girl  of  refined  tastes,  accustomed  to  luxury,  to  assume 
the  burden  of  a  poor  man's  life  ! 

It  took  Trajan  a  week  to  rally  from  this.  But  he  grew 
buoyant  in  convincing  himself  that  this  dictum  could  not 
apply  to  his  case,  for  was  he  not  a  rising  artist,  and  wouldn't 
he,  in  a  few  years,  command  his  own  price  ?  Hadn't  he  sold 
a  portrait  of  one  of  Theo's  friends  for  1,000  francs  ?  So  in 
this  self-exalting  mirage  Trajan  built  the  foundations  of  his 
future,  and  pursued  the  phantoms  with  fatuous  trust.  It 
was  in  the  beginning  of  May,  1870,  that  the  blow  came.  It 
had  never  occurred  to  the  young  man  that  there  might  be 
another  lover.  He  knew  that  the  gallants  of  the  Faubourg 
admired  the  brilliant  American  ;  but  he  was  tranquil  so  far 
as  they  were  concerned,  for  he  knew  they  would  never  offer 
their  coronets  to  a  dowerless  beauty  if  her  charms  were  the 
counterpart  of  the  Venus  de  Milo  and  the  spirit  of  de  Stael. 
He  had  vaguely  heard,  with  a  sickening  dread,  of  a  rich 
Englishman  who  was  her  cavalier  at  court.  He  determined 
to  end  the  agony.  But,  "like  one  who  having  unto  truth, 
by  telling  of  it,  made  such  a  sinner  of  his  memory  to  credit 
his  own  lie,"  he  made  no  doubt  of  the  result.  Trajan  wrote, 


' '  E  VER  Y  DOOR  IS  BARRED  IV I TH  GOLD. "         187 

asking  Theo  to  be  at  home,  and  received  a  kind  affirmative. 

Just  as  he  set  out  the  postman  gave  him  a  handful  of  letters. 
Too  much  preoccupied  with  his  fateful  mission  to  read  them, 
he  barely  glanced  through  the  pages.  One  was  from  Armi- 
tage,  dated  San  Francisco,  and  evidently  a  long  time  en  route. 
He  barely  glanced  at  the  beginning,  and  slipped  it  in  his 
pocket  to  read  later. 

Theo  was  alone  and  radiant,  but  with  such  unobtrusive 
adornment  as  she  above  all  women  seemed  to  possess  the 
secret  of  fabricating. 

"You  look  serious,  Maestro,"  as  he  had  for  a  long  time 
been  familiarly  called  in  the  family.  "  What's  the  secret 
burdening  your  mind  ?  Another  masterpiece  for  the  Salon, 
I'll  wager,  and  I'm  to  be  called  on  to  give  final  judgment." 

"Yes,  Theo,  it's  a  masterpiece,  and  you're  called  on  for 
final  judgment.  I  want  you  to  be  my  wife  ;  I  love  you — I 
loved  you,  I  think,  the  first  moment  I  saw  you,  two  years 
ago,  on  the  ship.  I  have  thought  of  you  by  day  and  dreamed 
of  you  by  night  every  hour  since  then.  Your  eye  has  been 
on  every  stroke  of  work  I  have  done  ;  your  voice  has  sounded 
in  my  ear  in  the  silent  hours  of  the  night  and  through  the 
long  days  of  toil  which  its  echoes  cheered  and  made  happy. 
All  that  a  man  with  some  powers  may  do,  I  shall  do  under 
your  inspiration.  All  that  a  woman  can  dream  in  the  way 
of  devotion  I  have  ready  to  dedicate  to  you.  Say  that  you 
will  be  my  wife,"  he  cried,  taking  her  hand  in  both  his  own.^ 

She  made  no  attempt  to  draw  it  away.  She  was  looking 
dreamily  at  her  own  portrait,  painted  by  Trajan,  on  the  wall 
opposite.  I  doubt  if  the  blood  in  her  veins  increased  a  single 
throb  as  this  passionate  and  manly  prayer  fell  upon  her  ears. 
She  was  prepared  for  it  ;  she  had  known  from  the  first  that 
sooner  or  later  it  must  come.  She  kept  her  eyes  fixed  upon 
the  picture  so  long  that  he  turned  uneasily,  and  was  reassured 
when  he  saw  where  her  glance  rested.  But  her  eye  was  not  fixed 
upon  the  picture  to  conceal  any  lurking  infirmity  of  purpose. 
Theo  knew  the  curious  freaks  these  lambent  orbs  played.  She 


1 88  TRAJAN. 

knew  that  when  they  were  not  a  mask  for  mockery  or  merry 
making,  they  had  a  trick  of  changing  into  a  sinister  opaque 
green,  like  the  tiger's  in  the  cage  when  tantalized  by  the 
sight  of  prey  beyond  his  reach.  She  was  not  in  reality  a 
particle  embarrassed  to  find  or  utter  the  words  she  had  pre 
determined  to  use.  But,  in  spite  of  her  preparation,  in  spite 
of  her  resolution,  the  woman  in  her  ruled  the  hour,  and  she 
lost  the  trick  of  jaunty  concealment  she  had  counted  on. 

The  delicious  tribute  of  the  man's  rare  homage  filled  her 
with  a  sense  of  intoxicating,  irrepressible  triumph.  The 
light  in  his  eye,  the  passion  in  his  voice,  the  adoration  in  his 
manner  displaced  the  mental  balance  she  had  counted  on, 
and  she  fairly  prolonged  the  interval  to  enjoy  to  the  utmost 
the  intoxicating  realization  of  her  own  power  over  such  a 
fine  nature.  It  was  a  grateful  evidence  to  her  that,  in  spite 
of  her  worldliness,  she  was  mistress  of  the  charms  and  poten 
tialities  that  win  genuine  love  ! 

It  was,  above  all,  proof  that  neither  sincerity,  affinity,  or 
what  not,  that  the  shallow  prate  of,  are  needed  to  conquer  the 
purest  love,  captivate  the  most  single-minded  and  aspiring. 
The  hand  that  Trajan  held  neither  resisted  nor  affirmed  any 
thing.  She  sat  quite  still,  contemplative — almost  as  in  a 
reverie — and  her  eyes  still  averted  themselves  from  his  tender, 
fervid  scrutiny.  The  trumpets  of  a  passing  regiment  and  the 
trampling  of  galloping  squadrons  sounded  outside  in  the 
still  and  fragrant  air.  Trajan  strove  to  clasp  her  waist — 
•fondly  believing  the  silence  assent.  But  she  drew  back 
with  a  slight  heightening  of  color  and  an  ominous  glitter  in 
the  particolored  eyes.  In  a  thick,  impulsive,  trembling 
voice,  Trajan  spoke  : 

"  Oh,  Theo,  you  cannot  be  surprised  at  this — you  who 
see  all  things  so  clearly.  You  must  have  seen  this — you 
must  have  known  of  my  love  ?  Have  you  no  love  for  my 
love  ?  no  answer  for  my  prayer  ?  no  hope  for  my  heart  ? — I 
cannot  have  pained  you  by  saying  what  I  have  said  ?  " 

She  still  evaded  his  glance  ;  she  was  conscious  of  the 


"EVERY  DOOR  IS  BARRED  WITPI  GOLD."         189 

green  in  her  eyes  now  ;  she  withdrew  her  hand  softly  from 
Trajan's  reluctant  fingers,  and  rose  from  the  divan.  Once 
upon  her  feet  she  was  safe.  He  could  no  longer  fix  her  eye 
with  his  own  frank,  eager  glance. 

"  No,  Trajan,  you  do  not  surprise  me.  I  have  foreseen 
this  for  a  long  time,  and  I  have  striven  to  avert  it.  I  am 
honest  in  saying  that  I  thought  you  would  discover  the  use- 
lessness  of  your  love  for  a  woman  with  my  objects  in  life — 

T " 

"You  love  some  one  else,"  interrupted  Trajan,  dolorously. 

She  shook  her  head  almost  impatiently.  "  No,  I  love  no 
one  better  than  I  love  you."  She  put  out  her  hand  in 
pleading  deprecation  as  Trajan  started  rapturously  toward 
her.  "  Stay — hear  me  out.  Love  is  a  luxury,  and  I  have  a 
purpose  in  life  that  would  make  it  a  crime  in  me  to  heed 
my  heart  in  marrying  !  In  most  cases  it  is  a  stern  parent  that 
plays  this  role — but  I  have  the  fortunes  of  my  family  to  care 
for,  and  I  must  be  my  own  tyrant."  She  looked  at  him  in  a 
far-off,  dreamy  way.  "  Were  I  a  rich  woman — as  I  was  born 
— or  were  you  a  rich  man,  I  love  you  well  enough  to  marry 
you.  But  I'm  not."  Her  voice  trembled  a  little  as  Trajan 
made  a  movement  of  uncontrollable  shocked  surprise. 

"  Hear  me  out  ;  what  I  am  going  to  say,  while  it  gives 
you  pain,  will  convince  you  that  even  if  the  conditions  were 
such  as  I  have  outlined,  you  would  not  find  such  a  mate  as 
you  seek  in  me." 

He  seized  her  hands  and  strove  to  say  something,  but  she 
extricated  them  quietly,  now  perfectly  mistress  of  herself, 
and  putting  them  behind  her  confronted  him  as  he  stood, 
stupefied  and  incredulous. 

"  You  have  nothing  ;  and  I  would  no  more  think  of 
marrying  you  than  of  throwing  myself  into  the  Seine,  from 
the  Bridge  of  the  Holy  Fathers — " 

"  Oh,  my  God — my  God  !  Theo,  do  you  know  what  you 
are  saying  ;  what  you  have  said  ?  "  cried  Trajan,  suffocat 
ingly. 


190  TRAJAN. 

"  Perfectly.  I  am  proclaiming  myself  an  adventuress, 
soulless,  cruel,  heartless,  repulsive — a  woman  that  no  good 
man  could  love,  and  no  honest  woman  pardon." 

She  walked  to  the  farther  end  of  the  room,  turned  and 
came  back,  and,  looking  at  Trajan  as  he  sat  with  his  head 
buried  in  his  hands,  stroked  his  hair  lightly,  then  bent  over 
and  kissed  his  forehead.  He  started  shuddering  from  her  ; 
then,  rising,  said,  supplicatingly  : 

"Oh,  Theo,  in  the  name  of  a  merciful  God,  by  the 
memory  of  your  mother,  unsay  these  monstrous  things — say 
you  were  jesting — say  that  you  were  trying  me.  In  God's 
name  give  me  a  chance  to  live  in  the  world  without  loathing 
you." 

She  put  her  hands  behind  her,  twisting  the  long  tapering 
fingers  spasmodically. 

"  You  feel  that  my  wicked  lips  desecrate  you.  I  had 
meant  that  they  should  touch  you  before  I  revealed  myself. 
But  we  can't  always  order  ourselves,  I  find.  Admit  my 
wickedness.  Admit  the  monstrous  in  all  I  have  said.  Isn't 
it  honester  to  tell  you  frankly  the  purposes  that  divide  us 
than  to  let  you  go  away  in  doubt  ?  Unless  my  heart  were 
another's,  on  what  pretext  could  I  reject  such  love  as  yours? 

"  I  am  more  magnanimous  than  the  ingrate  who  blighted 
Clare's  life.  He  didn't  even  bid  the  woman  he  had  won 
good-by."  She  checked  herself  suddenly,  then  added,  reck 
lessly,  "A  life  dedicated  as  mine  is  to  righting  family  wrongs, 
would  drag  a  nature  like  yours  down.  I  own  frankly. that 
nothing  can  stand  between  me  and  my  purpose.  Ten  years 
ago  we  were  beggars  ;  to-day  we  have  means  that  in  this 
country  make  us  rich — every  penny  of  my  devising.  It  is  a 
necessity  of  my  nature  to  rule,  or  mold,  or  call  it  what  you 
will.  I  rule  this  house.  I  shape  the  thought  as  well  as  the 
actions  of  every  member  of  it.  I  must  marry,  if  I  ever  do, 
a  man  who  can  rule  me,  but  his  purposes  must  be  greater 
than  yours.  I  can't  afford  the  luxury  of  mating  for  love. 
You  are  not  malleable.  You  are  not  even  adaptable.  You 


« '  E  VER  Y  DO  OK  IS  BA  RRED  WITH  GOLD. "         191 

have,  of  all  qualities,  the  most  dangerous  and  useless  for  a 
man  in  your  station — conscience  and  the  perversity  of  prin 
ciple.  You  abhor  the  things  I  adore.  The  aims  I  cherish 
are  to  you  wicked  and  abominable.  I  love  rank,  lineage  and 
the  accessories  of  station.  You  despise  them.  I  shouldn't 
mind  your  poverty  if  you  were  free  of  these  compromising 
trammels." 

Trajan  raised  his  hand  pleadingly  to  stay  the  flood  of  this 
premeditated  moral  abdication.  He  strove  to  speak,  but 
she  went  on  relentlessly — triumphantly,  even,  exalted  by 
this  luxury  of  final,  free  self-portraiture,  as  when  in  anger 
one  gives  way  to  the  repressed  hates  of  a  life. 

"  Oh,  don't,  don't !  "  cried  Trajan,  rising.  "  I  won't  hear 
such  raving  !  It  is  an  impeachment  upon  my  manhood.  I 
met  you  an  innocent,  pure  girl.  I  will  leave  you  before  you 
can  shake  that  conviction.  God  bless  you,  farewell  !  " 

Without  daring  to  look  at  her,  he  hurried  out  of  the  door 
and  down  the  stairs.  Startled  by  the  sudden  exit  Clare 
entered  the  salon.  Theo  was  lying  prone  upon  the  floor, 
her  two  hands  clenched  over  the  undone  masses  of  her 
hair. 

For  a  month  Trajan  lay  in  the  studio  in  the  delirium  of 
brain  fever.  Toward  the  first  of  May  the  doctors  sent  him 
to  Barbison,  as  he  babbled  incessantly  of  green  fields  and 
forest  glades.  In  that  charming  woodland  he  gained 
strength  and  calmness,  and  toward  the  middle  of  May 
returned  to  Paris.  But  he  couldn't  work.  He  shunned  his 
friends  and  passed  hours  in  wandering  through  the  ancient 
quarters  of  medieval  Paris. 

On  the  morning  of  the  i4th  of  May  he  sat  in  his  studio, 
when  Madame  Agay  laid  a  mass  of  letters  before  him,  call 
ing  attention  to  their  long  neglect.  He  took  them,  and 
mechanically  looked  them  over.  Among  others,  the  letter 
from  Armitage,  that  he  had  thrust  into  his  pocket  unread  on 
the  fatal  visit  to  Theo.  It  was  a  closely-written  four-page 
letter,  and  toward  the  middle  Theo's  name  appeared. 


192  TRAJAN. 

"  Before  I  left  New  York  I  found  out  the  secret  of  our 
sea-witch.  We  were  right  in  our  surmise — that  it  was  she 
we  saw  in  the  carriage  that  day.  By  a  curious  chance  I  met 
her  a  few  days  after  your  departure  at  the  house  of  a  friend 
to  whom  I  brought  letters.  She  was,  as  usual,  the  charm  of 
the  company.  She  kept  every  one  in  a  roar,  and  what  is 
unusual  with  brilliant  women,  her  own  sex  admire  her  as 
enthusiastically  as  the  men.  I  asked  my  friend  when  Miss 
Carnot  had  arrived  in  New  York,  and  she  told  me,  naming 
the  day  we  came  in  on  the  steamer.  But  she  added  :  '  She 
is  a  very  busy  woman,  and  has  been  closeted  with  lawyers 
and  agents  ever  since,  to  the  great  distress  of  her  friends, 
who  expected  her  at  Newport  and  Saratoga.' 

*  Then    she    has    passed    all    this    hot    season    in    New 
York  ? ' 

'  Yes,  I  have  seen  a  good  deal  of  her  as  we  were  school 
friends  together.' 

"  Now  I  shouldn't  take  the  trouble  to  go  into  this  detail 
were  it  not  for  what  follows.  One  day  a  paragraph  appeared 
in  all  the  morning  papers  hinting  at  a  seizure  of  a  great 
quantity  of  smuggled  diamonds  and  other  valuables  under 
high  duties,  in  the  trunks  of  a  lady  well  known  in  the  most 
exclusive  society  of  New  York.  The  authorities  had  been 
apprised  of  the  traffic,  but  it  was  managed  so  skillfully  that 
actual  evidence  was  difficult  to  obtain.  Warning  had  been 
received  in  the  customs  office  that  a  large  invoice  of 
diamonds  and  laces  were  to  be  sent  by  the  steamer  arriving 
one  day  in  July.  But  owing  to  an  accident  at  sea  two 
steamers  came  together  and  the  officers  were  disconcerted 
until  the  trunks  were  delivered  into  their  hands  by  an  inno 
cent  agent  of  the  smuggler — a  young  artist  home  on  a  visit 
from  Paris. 

"  The  modus  operandi  of  the  ring  is  ingenious  ;  women 
carry  on  the  trade,  and  on  the  home-voyage  manage  to  get 
acquainted  with  bachelors  with  little  baggage,  and  as  the 
ships  near  New  York  confide  to  them  that  a  brother  or 


' '  E  VER  Y  DOOR  IS  BARRED  WITH  GOLD. "    193 

father  who  had  sent  his  baggage  on  board  was  detained  at 
the  last  moment,  and  was  obliged  to  wait  for  the  next 
steamer.  Of  course  the  polite  bachelor  is  willing  to  take 
the  keys  and  pass  the  baggage  through  the  custom-house 
as  his  own.  The  value  of  the  present  seizure  is  over 
$100,000. 

"  I  think  I  need  add  no  comment  to  the  foregoing.  I 
wouldn't  have  bothered  you  with  the  nauseous  story  were  it 
not  that  I  thought  I  saw  an  interest  stronger  than  mere 
friendliness  in  your  devotions  to  cette  beaute  du  diable" 

The  sunlight  faded  into  starless  night.  Betty  and  Trip 
were  sorely  perplexed  by  the  strange  unmoving  figure  of 
their  master.  It  was  nearly  midnight  when  he  raised  his 
head  from  the  desk.  He  moved  with  curious  tranquillity. 
Taking  a  pen,  he  wrote  rapidly,  and  sealed  a  note,  which  he 
placed  on  the  mantel.  Then,  looking  around  the  room, 
changed  his  coat  and  vest,  emptied  his  pockets  of  everything 
in  them,  and  with  a  caress  for  the  dog  and  cat,  softly  quit 
the  chamber.  He  wandered  off  to  Montmartre,  and  sat 
down.  It  was  a  walk  of  four  miles  or  more,  and  the  exhaus 
tion  brought  on  prostration.  He  made  an  effort  to  rise,  but 
nature  refused  to  respond,  and  he  dozed  on  the  green  sward 
until  the  burning  morning  sun  aroused  him.  He  was  still 
weak,  and  the  morning  passed  before  he  regained  strength  to 
walk  back  toward  the  river.  Arrived  there  the  expectant 
crowds  distracted  him.  The  day  wore  away.  When  the 
mind  that  Trajan  Gray  lost  in  the  Rue  Galilee  returned  to 
him,  Elliot  Arden's  kindly  words  were  in  his  ears,  and  the 
fervor  of  his  honest  accents  healing  the  hurts  that  treachery 
had  made  in  the  young  man's  heart. 


194  TRAJAN. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  CLUB  OF  THE  THIRTEEN  THIRTEENS. 

THEOPHILE  GAUTIER  recounts  somewhere  in  one 
of  his  many  whimsical  prefaces,  that  it  was  the  habit 
of  the  great  De  Balzac  to  prepare  his  myriad  mind  for  the 
shaping  of  the  motives  that  were  to  rule  in  his  Human 
Comedy  by  diligent  reading  of  the  Code  Napoleon.  Byron 
conjured  the  fiery  spirits  in  the  brandy  bottle.  Victor 
Hugo  consults  the  stars.  None  of  these  suggestive 
sources  would  reveal  to  us  the  conditions  governing  the  lives 
of  the  personages  in  whose  careers  we  may  now  be  supposed 
to  be  absorbed.  Chained  to  the  car  of  marching  events, 
this  history  is  forced  to  follow  where  fortune  leads  the  per 
sonages  ;  the  historian  serving  modestly  the  part  of  chorus, 
obtruding  his  mask  now  and  then  like  Bottom  and  his 
friends  in  the  poet's  Elfin  Dream.  In  deference  to  the  just 
prejudice  of  the  reader  Trajan's  odious  association  with  the 
anarch  forces  of  rational  heterodoxy,  Communism,  has  been 
kept  as  much  as  possible  in  the  dim  outline  of  the  picture, 
as  Josephus,  writing  of  Saul,  would  have  touched  with 
reluctant  lightness  upon  those  episodes  in  his  life  after  he 
passed  from  the  feet  of  Gamaliel  and  the  perfect  teachings 
of  the  law,  when  his  head  was  turned  on  the  journey  to 
Damascus  ! 

Like  the  majority  of  the  toilers  who  sought  the  shrine  of 
art  in  Paris,  Trajan  had  found  the  Areopagus  of  liberty 
open  to  him,  and  he  had  gladly  entered.  It  was  as  natural  to 
become  a  conspirator  under  the  Empire  as  a  patriot  in  the 
colonies  under  King  George.  All  that  was  self-respecting, 
generous,  inspired  by  chimerical  impulses,  gravitated  as 
inevitably  to  the  secret  clubs  as  magnetic  particles  to 
their  afftnitative  poles.  Of  the  ten  thousand  students  in  the 
Latin  quarter,  seven-tenths  were  regularly  enrolled — members 


THE  CLUB  OF  THE   THIRTEEN  THIR  TEENS.        195 

in  distinctive  societies,  having  small  relation  with  the  united 
or  general  union,  but  all  animated  by  a  love  of  liberty  and 
vague  dreams  of  revolution.  The  executive  society  acting 
for  all,  was  known  as  Les  Trcize  Treize — The  Thirteen 
Thirteens — but  commonly  called  the  Treize.  In  this 
Sanhedrim  there  were  thirteen  deputies  from  every  club, 
representing  artists,  artisans,  architects,  divinity,  law,  medi 
cine,  journalists,  poets,  novelists,  farmers,  dramatists,  soldiers, 
and  politicians.  In  this  wonderful  company  were  to  be 
found  the  most  eminent  names  in  all  these  callings.  Prevost 
Paradol  had  been  president  until  he  joined  the  Ollivier 
Schism,  and  in  his  place  Gambetta  had  been  uproariously 
installed. 

This  organization  was  in  relation  with  subsidiary  societies, 
called  filles  des  Treize,  in  every  Commune  in  France. 
Five  thousand  francs  a  year  were  set  aside  in  each  to  go 
into  the  treasury  of  the  central  Commune,  whenever  the 
Empire  was  overthrown.  Its  constitution  was  modeled 
on  the  Brook  farm  experiment,  but  its  political  scope  was 
the  decentralization  of  France.  Its  articles  forbade  war, 
general  taxation  and  capital  punishment.  Taxes  were  to  be 
levied  by  the  Commune  or  township  alone.  There  was  to 
be  no  army  ;  no  navy  ;  no  executive  ;  no  general  ministry. 
Each  township  in  France  was  to  regulate  its  own  affairs, 
and  when  complications  arose  they  were  to  be  settled  as 
individual  litigations.  By  the  abolition  of  the  centralizing 
forces  of  government,  the  ambitious  were  to  be  shorn  of 
opportunities  to  entangle  the  people  in  wars,  waste  the  pub 
lic  substance  and  distract  individual  efforts  from  the  only 
legitimate  purposes  of  life,  subsistence  and  happiness. 

This  earthly  Elysium  was  not  wholly  believed  in  by  all  the 
enthusiasts  who  made  up  the  membership — but  all  believed 
firmly  that  a  Republic  governed  on  the  Jeffersonian  prin 
ciple  would  emerge  from  its  solidarity.  Trajan,  as  president 
of  the  artist  delegation — urged  the  perfect  feasibility  of  the 
Commune — based,  as  he  said,  on  the  creed  of  the  first  com- 


196  TRAJAN. 

munard,  the  Nazarene.  Sometimes  asked  by  his  opponents 
in  the  General  Assembly,  why  the  doctrines  were  not  prac 
ticed  in  America,  he  would  retort,  that  it  was  because  the 
fathers  had  left  their  work  but  half  done.  That  "  the  country 
had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  slave  drivers,  when  the  con 
stitution  was  adopted,  and  had  been  seized  by  a  plutocracy 
in  1868.  That  the  fate  of  the  union  was  a  proof  of  the 
wisdom  of  the  plan  of  pure  township  government,  or  Com 
munism,  as  the  tendencies  in  America  were  precisely  those 
which  had  driven  France  to  revolution  in  1787.  More  of 
the  people's  money  was  wasted  in  Washington  annually 
than  would  subsist  all  the  homeless  of  Europe  in  the  dignity 
of  small  peaceful  citizenship  as  the  Commune  contemplates." 
He  was  listened  to  with  great  attention,  but  the  ranks  were 
firm,  the  ambitious  and  self-seeking  ridiculing  the  idea  as  a 
dream,  the  sincere  and  generous  worshiping  it  as  a  new 
gospel,  that  should  restore  society  to  patriarchal  repose. 

Human  judgments,  though  rarely  leaning  to  the  merciful, 
unlike  criminal  justice,  do  consider  pleas  in  mitigation. 
For  a  decade  the  world  saw  only  the  atrocious  in  the  idea 
under  which  all  that  was  vile  masqueraded  in  Paris  in  1871. 
Hence  you  are  to  forbear  with  Trajan  now  as  you  see  him 
the  evangel  of  a  creed  that  was  later  to  stand  for  every  thing 
monstrous  and  abhorrent  in  revolted  human  nature.  The 
doctrine  of  Communism,  as  the  sagacious  reader  knows,  is 
but  a  half  truth,  until  human  nature  changes. 

The  world  is  ruled  by  half  truths  infinitely  more  mischiev 
ous,  but  their  incompleteness  is  not  yet  acknowledged,  though 
perfectly  demonstrable.  "  Society  rests  on  half  truths, 
crutches  of  clay,"  as  Trajan  once  called  them,  discussing  the 
subject  in  the  Treize,  "  which  dissolve  into  their  component 
elements,  when  the  inundating  waters  of  light  arise  about 
them  and  leave  their  victims  helpless  in  the  mire  of  infidelity 
and  cynicism. "  The  "  whole  truth,"  he  proclaimed,  "  is  always 
radical.  One  truth  must,  by  its  very  completeness,  impinge 
on  some  other  truth,  as  two  globes  touch  in  revolving.  It  is 


THE  CLUB  OF  THE   THIRTEEN  THIRTEEN  S.        197 

only  when  a  verity  is  launched  into  the  forces  of  the  mind 
that  commotion  and  revolution  result  !  Loyola  launched  a 
fact  among  the  pigmy  half  truths  of  his  time  that  broadened 
the  narrow  faith  of  mankind  ;  so  did  Pym  and  Milton  and 
Cromwell  and  Voltaire,  and  the  result  was  violent  efferves 
cence  and  truth  left  as  a  solid  residuum." 

The  Treize  embalmed  these  mystic  theories  in  a 
pamphlet,  and  Trajan  was  regarded  as  a  new  Rousseau. 

Elliot  was  curious  to  be  initiated  into  these  wonderful  sym- 
posise,  and  while  the  family  were  in  transit  to  Crecy,  Trajan 
took  the  opportunity  to  gratify  this  laudable  research  into 
the  infinite  of  ideal  politics.  Trajan,  working  at  his  easel,  and 
Elliot,  lounging  among  the  treasures  of  the  studio,  the  forego 
ing  was  confided  to  him,  as  a  possible  convert  to  the  Samari 
tan  creed.  Or  sometimes,  with  Philip,  the  two  young  men 
explored  the  medieval  mysteries  of  the  old  quarter,  with  a 
delight  as  profound  as  Hugo's  in  "  Notre  Dame." 

Trajan  knew  his  Paris  as  intimately  and  reverently  as  Bal 
zac  or  Sue,  and  could  discourse  by  the  hour  on  the  worthies 
that  made  the  Marais  and  Latin  Pays  the  home  of  history 
and  legend.  This  resource  in  Trajan  bound  Elliot  by  a  new 
bond  ;  he  knew  Paris  historically,  but  its  architectural  won 
ders,  not  found  in  the  books,  he  knew  only  in  the  super 
ficial  way  most  strangers  are  satisfied  to  pass  over  the 
obscure  memorials  in  which  its  older  quarters  abound.  In 
the  quarter  called  the  Marais,  where  the  splendid  society  of 
the  old  capital  was  concentrated,  Trajan  revealed  edifices 
upon  which  the  eyes  of  Richelieu  had  rested  familiarly,  thresh 
olds  over  which  a  Retz,  a  Maintenon,  a  Conde  had  stepped 
daily  ;  gabled  roofs  under  which  Madame  de  Sevigne 
had  prattled  those  delightful  small-beer  chronicles  which 
reveal  the  wit  and  gayety  and  love-making  and  intrigue 
and  tragedy  of  the  time,  when  France  was  as  great  as  the 
French  were  joyous  and  polished  and  adventurous  in  love 
and  war. 

In  these  fanciful  jaunts  they  dined  wherever  the  pangs 


198  TRAJAN. 

of  hunger  overtook  them  in  the  fervor  of  their  exploration. 
Under  the  luminous  revivals  of  Trajan,  Elliot  began  to  com 
prehend  the  passionate  devotion  of  the  sons  of  Lutetia  to 
the  city  of  their  sires.  He  was  hardly  less  surprised  at  the 
young  man's  knowledge  of  the  city,  than  his  acquaintance 
with  citizens.  In  every  street  he  was  stopped  and  saluted 
fraternally,  and  Elliot  remarked  that  the  people  were  for 
the  most  part  artisans  of  the  middle  or  working  class. 

"  When,  in  heaven's  name,  do  you  find  time  to  know  all 
these  folk  ? " 

Trajan  laughed.  "  I  don't  know  half  of  them — hardly 
even  by  sight — but  the  signal  of  the  Treize  makes  us  all 
comrades.  I  give  it  more  from  curiosity  than  any  thing 
else.  I  like  to  see  the  universality  of  our  brotherhood." 

"  I  should  imagine  all  Paris  part  of  your  band,  from  the 
number  you  meet." 

"  All  Paris  will  be,  you  may  be  sure,  before  many 
years." 

Once  or  twice  during  these  rambles,  the  friends  encount 
ered  Jules  Carnot,  who  stared  in  undisguised  amazement  at 
the  young  millionaire's  companion  and  vicinage.  He  made 
much  of  Trajan  in  his  new  attitude  of  confidant  to  the 
envied  Arden,  but  the  painter  did  not  invite  the  intimacy. 
His  coldness  and  taciturnity  when  Jules  made  one  of  the 
party  surprised  Elliot  and  Kent,  who  talked  it  over  as 
another  of  Trajan's  strange  "  ways."  Philip  joined  the 
tours,  as  he  laughingly  told  Trajan,  to  keep  a  conserva 
tive  guard  over  his  impulsive  kinsman,  lest  he  should  be 
entrapped  into  membership  in  the  Treize,  to  help  establish 
the  Commune  ! 

"  I'm  afraid,"  he  added,  as  they  emerged  from  a  bewilder 
ing  maze  of  tortuous  lane-like  streets — grim  tunnel  cuts 
in  the  solid  piles  of  massive  creamy  stone — "  that  our  adroit 
friend,  Napoleon  III.,  hasn't  secured  the  safety  he  imagines, 
if  after  a  hundred  years  of  demolishing  and  street  widening, 
this  wonderful  quarter  has  many  counterparts  within  the 


THE  CLUB  OF  THE   THIRTEEN  THIRTEENS.        199 

walls.     A  well  commanded   mob  could  hold  such   impene- 
tralia  as  these  a  month,  if  well  provisioned." 

"  Ah  !  if  it  ever  comes  to  that,"  said  Trajan  with  a  tone 
of  solemn  conviction,  "there'll  be  food  enough.  All  the 
great  markets  are  near  this  ancient  center  and  the  river  is 
close  enough  to  serve  as  a  base." 

"  But  unless  the  soldiers  join  the  mob — I  beg  your  par 
don — deliverers,  no  such  contingency  could  come  to  pass  ; 
bases  of  supplies  would  never  enter  the  problem  —  a  few 
volleys  of  artillery  and  chassepots  on  the  roofs,  would  soon 
convert  you  to  an  imperial  peace." 

"  Well,  it  may  be  so — unless  I  am  greatly  mistaken  we 
shall  have  a  chance  to  test  the  matter  one  of  these  days. 
The  madness  of  the  imperialists  points  to  an  early  oppor 
tunity,  and  you  may  be  sure  there  are  half  a  million  desper 
ate  enough  to  try  the  issue.  They  are  rushing  to  war,  and 
their  extremity  will  be  the  republic's  opportunity." 

"A  reason  the  more  for  its  baseness,"  retorted  Philip 
with  a  shrug  ;  "  mischief  is  the  measure  of  the  mob  in  poli 
tics  and  war,  and  your  friends 'will  discredit  whatever  they 
intend  of  good,  by  striking  even  their  enemies  in  the 
back." 

They  passed  over  the  bridge  of  Arts  to  the  Latin  quarter, 
under  the  portico  of  the  Immortals,  and  up  the  Rue 
Mazarin  to  the  Rue  de  1'Ancienne  Comedie  and  entered  the 
Cafe  Procope.  Dinner  over,  they  remained  to  meet  the 
students,  who  made  the  place  a  rendezvous  in  those  exciting 
days.  Every  one  seemed  to  know  every  one  else  so  inti 
mately  that  only  given  names  were  heard.  Trajan  explained 
that  it  was  more  precaution  than  intimacy,  as  the  spies  of 
Pietri  abounded  in  the  place,  reporting  the  incendiary 
vivacities  of  the  over-inflamed  propagandists.  The  conver 
sation  was  carried  on  in  the  general  loudness  that  marks  the 
prandial  Frenchman,  sipping  his  coffee  in  chalice-like  gob 
let — "  Mazagran  "  as  it  is  called. 
"And  is  the  cafe"  just  as  it  was  when  Beaumarchais  sate  here 


200  TRAJAN. 

that  famous  first  night  that  Figaro  failed  in  the  Comedie  ? 
opposite,"  asked  Elliot,  as  he  gazed  around  at  the  red  plush 
sofas  and  marble-topped  tables. 

"Hardly  any  change,  except  in  the  upholstering,"  replied 
Trajan.  "  Revolutionary  as  they  are  in  ideas,  the  French 
are  the  most  conservative  and  preservative  of  races  in  habits 
and  surroundings.  These  walls,  as  you  see  them,  Beau- 
marchais,  Marshal  Saxe,  Voltaire,  Diderot,  John  Law, 
Franklin  and  the  worthies  of  the  cyclopedia,  saw  them  a 
hundred  years  ago.  The  lower  floor  covered  more  space  in 
those  days.  Up  stairs  every  thing  remains  the  same.  You 
shall  see  the  table  where  the  young  Voltaire  sipped  his 
tipple,  played  ecarte  and  recited  verses  from  his  wicked 
Pucelle,  to  the  roysterers  of  the  Well-Beloved  Louis'  frail 
court.  It  is  a  mosaic  of  names,  carved  by  the  wits  and 
celebrities  of  those  gallant  times,  and  is  worshiped  as  the 
manes  of  the  godless  old  cynic  who  chattered  his  brilliant 
blasphemies  over  it.  But  hush,  there  is  Gambetta,  with  a 
speech  in  his  eye."  At  the  entrance  of  the  Hotspur  of  the 
Republic,  every  one  suspended  the  phrase  on  his  lip  and 
waited  to  salute  the  dark  swarthy  figure  as  he  passed  from 
one  to  another  of  those  he  knew. 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  his  left  eye  ?  it  has  a  fixed  and 
glassy  stare,  quite  horrible  to  see,"  asked  Elliot,  after  the 
leader  had  shaken  hands  with  Trajan  and  passed  on  up 
stairs,  where  he  always  sate — from  eleven  o'clock  until 
one. 

"  It  is  glass  ;  he  is  said  to  have  put  his  eye  out  to  prevent 
being  apprenticed  to  a  watch  maker  in  his  native  town 
of  Cahors.  Let  us  go  up  and  hear  his  comments  on  current 
events.  He  reads  the  papers  aloud  and  then  gives,  what 
the  French  call,  his  appreciation  of  affairs." 

Gambetta  was  standing  beside  a  column  when  the  young 
men  reached  the  second  floor.  He  was  then  quite  slim. 
His  shining  black  hair  fell  like  a  mane  to  his  shoulders. 
His  tawny  southron  face  shone  as  if  in  the  exuding  of  the 


THE  CLUB  OF  THE   THIRTEEN  THIRTEEN S.       201 

oils  with  which  Provencal  food  is  garnished.  He  was  in 
vigorous  health  and  looked  thirty,  while  he  had  passed  his 
thirty-eighth  birthday.  Dressed  in  the  limit  of  Bohemian 
carelessness — an  alpaca  frock  and  loose  baggy  trowsers,  not 
long  enough  to  cover  his  scarlet  stockings,  he  would  have 
been  taken  for  a  druggist's  clerk  in  slovenly  neglige.  His 
hands  were  large,  clumsy,  and  very  white,  in  grotesque  con 
trast  with  his  reddish-brown  complexion.  His  manner  easy, 
jovial,  gay,  he  seemed  to  be  the  natural  comrade  of  every 
good  fellow  waiting  for  a  revolution  to  turn  up.  His  voice, 
as  he  read,  was  like  the  lingering  echo  of  silver  chimes, 
clear,  resonant,  penetrating.  He  stirred  Elliot  to  the  mar 
row  as  he  read  the  report  of  a  recent  speech  of  the  Emperor, 
interpolating  a  biting  gibe  at  each  pause.  With  these  came 
animated  responses  from  the  rest  as  the  sentiments  they 
cherished  in  the  voice  they  loved  rang  out  over  the  din  of 
clinking  glasses.  While  Gambetta  was  reading,  another 
group  entered  and  took  seats  near  Trajan  and  his  friend. 

Every  body  in  the  room  bowed  and  Trajan  whispered  the 
names  :  Gustave  Flourens,  Dombrowski,  Rigault  and  Ferre, 
of  the  advanced  communist  party.  By  midnight  the  great 
hall  was  quite  full  and  Gambetta  rapped  the  meeting  to 
order.  He  then  reviewed  the  political  situation  and  felt 
sanguine  that  events  were  moving  so  fast,  that  it  was  safe  to 
ask  his  friends  to  be  ready  to  take  the  responsibility  of 
government.  The  recent  plebiscite  shook  t,he  Bonaparte 
dynasty.  The  army  upon  which  it  rested  was  falling  away. 

Flourens  spoke  to  the  same  effect.  He  had  reports  from 
all  the  International  Lodges.  The  people  were  waiting  the 
signal  ;  "  When  it  comes,  we  must  not  only  be  ready  to  rule, 
we  must  be  prepared  to  execute  the  robbers  who  are 
plundering  France."  He  asked  that  an  executive  council, 
such  as  Danton  directed,  should  be  formed  in  advance  and 
he  craved  the  glory  of  sacrificing  the  chiefs  of  the  imperial 
conspiracy.  The  faint  applause  following  this  sanguinary 
sally,  did  not  discourage  Ferre,  a  slim  boyish  looking  fellow 


202  TRAJAN. 

with  pallid,  whiskered  and  malignant  face,  large  lustrous 
black  eyes,  hidden  under  steel  rimmed  glasses — from  sup 
porting  the  proposition  with  fervor.  He,  for  his  part, 
desired  to  be  assigned  the  place  of  executioner.  He  would 
make  such  an  example  of  tyrants  as  should  render  the 
people  free  from  any  future  seizure  of  their  rights  by  the 
cattle  called  kings  and  emperors.  He  desired  to  have  as 
his  epitaph,  the  man  that  beheaded  Bonaparte  and  that  arch- 
Jesuit  his  wife.  He  continued  in  this  strain,  growing  more 
and  more  vehement,  until  several  voices  called  him  to  order. 

Trajan  rose  and  glancing  in  reproach  at  the  speaker, 
declared  himself  shocked  by  such  sentiments.  For  his  part, 
he  lamented  that  a  noble  cause  should  be  made  equivocal 
by  the  expressions  of  such  intention  on  the  part  of  any  of 
its  members.  "  The  cardinal  doctrine  of  the  creed  that  holds 
us  together,"  he  said,  is  "  sinlessness  from  blood.  How  then, 
my  comrades,  can  you  reconcile  such  ferocious  utterances  as 
we  have  just  listened  to,  with  loyalty  to  our  order  ?  I  for  one 
repel  them.  I  for  one  declare  that  if  Madame  Bonaparte 
were  in  peril  from  these  comrades,  I  would  protect  her  at 
the  risk  of  my  life.  I  would  do  more  ;  I  would  have  my 
right  arm  cut  off  before  harm  should  come  to  Bonaparte  or 
any  of  the  renegades  who  keep  the  people  from  their  own 
by  seizing  such  incendiary  sayings  as  these  we  have  just 
heard,  and  holding  them  up  as  the  cardinal  principles  of 
liberty.  I  repudiate  murder  in  any  form,  legalized  by  a 
false  system  of  laws,  or  condemned  by  the  conscience  of 
mankind,  as  assassination." 

Trajan  sat  down,  acclaimed  by  three-fourths  of  the  com 
pany.  Ferre,  rising,  came  to  the  table,  his  eyes  gleaming 
wickedly  through  his  glasses.  "  I  congratulate  you,  camarade. 
We  shall  see  whose  methods  receive  the  suffrage  of  the 
majority  when  the  commune  unfurls  its  flag." 

"  Yes,  we  shall  see,"  replied  Trajan,  tranquilly,  "  but  I 
give  warning  that  if  yours  is  approved  I  am  no  longer  with 
the  movement." 


THE  CLUB  OF  THE   THIRTEEN  THIRTEENS.        203 

"  Your  speech  was  enough  to  show  that,  it  might  have 
been  pronounced  in  Bonaparte's  ante-chamber.  I  recom 
mend  you  to  try  it  there,"  and  with  a  sinister  laugh  he 
rejoined  Rigault,  who  broke  out  in  boisterous  laughter,  as 
the  sallies  were  recounted  to  him. 

When  the  meeting  broke  up,  Elliot  pointed  out  a  work 
man  in  a  blouse,  who  had  been  furtively  writing  while  the 
speeches  were  going  on.  He  had,  Elliot  said,  listened  to 
Trajan's  remarks  and  taken  down  every  word  of  them. 

"  It  is  a  mouchard.  He  is  sent  here  by  Pietri,  chief  of 
police;  at  every  meeting  there  is  a  different  one.  Sometimes 
a  student,  sometimes  a  workingman,  sometimes  an  elegant 
lounger.  These  assemblages  are  only  blinds,  our  real  work 
is  done  in  a  subterranean  hall  adjoining  the  Cloiserie  de 
Lilas,  where  the  students  swarm  by  thousands  to  dance,  and 
slip  out  unobserved  by  the  spies." 

"  Do  you  know  you  have  made  an  enemy  for  life  of  that 
Ferre  fellow  ?  I  never  saw  malignity  so  horribly  stamped  on 
a  human  countenance  as  it  was  on  his  while  you  were  speak 
ing.  If  this  republic  of  yours  ever  comes,  with  any  thing 
like  the  excesses  of  1793,  I  advise  you  to  give  Paris  a  wide 
berth." 

"  He's  a  poor  animal,  that.  I  had  a  row  with  him  in  the 
session  the  other  night  and  shall  report  him  for  misfeasance 
at  the  next  meeting." 

The  next  night,  as  a  contrast,  Trajan  accepted  an  invita 
tion  to  the  Jardin  Mabille.  Philip  joined  them  with  Jules 
and  the  Vicomte  Bellechasse. 

"  This  is  the  antipodes  of  the  feast  of  reasoning  revolt  you 
offered  us  last  night,  Gray,"  said  Elliot,  as  the  two  entered 
the  fairy  lanes  of  light  and  beauty.  "  Your  devotees  wor 
ship  the  coldness  of  Platonic  sensuousness  ;  here  we  have 
the  ministry  of  the  carnal." 

"Yes,  this  is  where  Caesarism  trains  and  debauches  its 
worshipers,  and  you'll  see  the  result  when  men's  work  is 
expected  from  these  effeminate  voluptuaries." 


204  TRAJAN. 

"  What  a  wonderfully  beautiful  place  it  is  though  !  What 
a  shame  that  it  should  be  such  a  haunt  of  high  life  degraded. 
I  should  like  to  have  Bella  and  Edith  see  these  wonderful 
effects  of  illumination,  in  the  grottoes,  that  fantastic  play  of 
hues  on  the  sober  linden  leaves.  The  place  is  enchanting 
to  me  and  I  own  I  always  have  a  mad  impulse  to  dance 
when  I  come." 

"  What  !  do  decent  people  dance  here  ?  "  asked  Trajan 
in  surprise. 

Jules,  who  heard  the  question,  laughed  immoderately. 
Slipping  behind  the  two  friends  and  taking  their  arms  he 
pushed  them  forward  under  the  glare  of  the  circular  net 
work  of  lamps  that  made  the  dancing  circle  bright  as  midday. 
A  superbly  arranged  orchestra,  led  by  a  princely-looking 
person  in  full  evening  dress,  and  decorated  with  an  order, 
was  playing.  On  the  shining  floor  surrounding  the  canopied 
pavilion  of  the  musicians  a  score  of  dames  in  magnificent 
trained  robes,  sparkling  with  diamonds,  were  at  pause 
between  two  parts  of  an  Offenbach  quadrille.  As  the  music 
struck  up  and  the  dance  began  Jules  said  : 

"You  are  in  the  best  company  in  the  land  ;  do  you  see 
that  brisk,  middle-sized  young  man,  who  looks  if  he  were 
dying  of  consumption  ?  That  is  the  Due  de  Grammont 
Caderousse,  whose  fortune  is  disappearing  in  supplying  the 
caprices  of  that  stately  blue-eyed  blonde,  moving  in  a  sort 
of  minuet  step  before  him.  Nor  is  she  to  be  sniffed  at, 
monsieur,"  he  added,  as  Bellechasse  and  Philip  grinned. 
"  That  is  the  companion  of  princes,  *  friend  '  of  the  Emperor's 
cousin  Plon-Plon,  queen  regnant  of  the  demi-monde." 

He  mentioned  her  name.  It  was  the  famous  English 
Pompadour,  whose  carnival  left  a  swath  of  ruin  in  the 
noblest  families  of  France. 

"  That  handsome  fellow  you  see  there  is  the  Prince 
d'Amboise,  slim  in  fortune,  but  of  the  proudest  house  in 
France,  and  with  titles  enough  to  fill  a  page  of  the  Almanac 
de  Gotha.  The  little  brunette  dancing  with  him  presided 


THE  CLUB  OF  THE   THIRTEEN  THIRTEENS.        205 

for  years  in  the  villa  of  the  King  of  Holland,  at 
Meudon." 

"  Bellechasse,  wasn't  there  some  scandal  about  Amboise  ?  " 
asked  Philip. 

"Yes,"  said  the  vicomte,  "he  married,  irregularly,  an 
English  girl  who  was  thought  to  be  enormously  rich.  She 
turned  out  poor,  his  people  wouldn't  recognize  the  marriage, 
and  so  soon  as  he  learned  that  she  was  poor,  he  didn't  care 
to.  The  girl's  people  carried  the  case  to  the  courts,  but  he 
knew  he  was  perfectly  safe.  The  ceremony  performed 
between  minors,  or  without  the  consent  of  the  family,  is  null 
in  France.  The  girl  went  mad,  and  his  family  to  escape  her 
importunities  put  her  in  a  madhouse.  She  escaped,  however, 
and  was  found  in  the  Seine  the  other  day.  She  left  a  little 
girl,  or  little  boy,  I  don't  remember  which.  It  was  kid 
napped  by  the  girl's  family,  and  the  Prince  is  looking  around 
for  another  parti.  He  is  inordinately  ambitious  and  dreams 
of  attaining  the  power  of  his  great  ancestors,  who  were 
ministers  under  Henri  IV.  and  Louis  XIV.  He  has  brains 
and  capacity,  and  if  Henri  Cinq  ever  comes  to  what  he  calls 
his  own,  he  will  be  a  modern  Richelieu." 

"  I  can  see  from  where  we  stand,"  continues  Jules,  after  the 
vicomte  ceased,  "  the  sons  of  three  ministers  of  the  Empire, 
a  half-dozen  marquises,  including  that  pitiable  creature  De 
Foulk,  who  married  the  diva.  The  Empress  brought  about 
the  match  to  save  the  marquisate  from  the  poor-house.  The 
wedding  dot  la  marquise  gave  her  daughter-in-law  was  a  box 
of  pearl  powder  of  which  the  noble  family  alone  have  the 
secret.  Figaro  declares  it  a  bonanza  for  the  diva  as  she 
will  force  all  the  impresarios  to  use  it  in  the  opera.  The 
marquis,  who  used  to  live  in  very  cheap  restaurants,  now 
wastes  heaps  of  gold  on  the  opera  dames,  who  fail  on  the 
scene.  He  has  been  the  main  dependence  of  a  gambling 
club  in  the  Place  Vendome  since  he  married  the  diva's 
millions.  In  return  for  all  this  I  am  told  he  treats  her  to 
the  rod  that  Solomon  advises  for  the  unruly — in  the  shape 
of  fists." 


206  TRAJAN. 

"How  on  earth  could  a  sane  woman  ever  marry  a  man 
with  that  face  ?  Profligacy  was  never  more  plainly  stamped," 
said  Elliot,  in  a  tone  of  disgust. 

"You  don't  know  much  of  women, monsieur,"  responded 
the  vicomte  laughing,  and  raising  his  shoulders,  while  his 
eyelids  drooped,  "  a  title,  if  it  be  sonorous  enough,  will  catch 
any  of  them  from  the  Puritan  Anglaise  to  the  piquante, 
insouciante  Americaine. 

"Perhaps  I  don't,"  said  Elliot  a  little  coldly,  "but  I 
venture  to  dispute  the  last  assertion.  Only  our  shoddy 
people  and  nouveaux  riches,  who  have  no  countenance  at 
home,  marry  abroad  in  the  way  you  say." 

"  It  may  be  true,  monsieur,  but  Americaines  are  always 
in  the  market  here  with  heaps  of  gold  to  exchange  for  titles  ; 
if  you  doubt,  go  over  the  list  with  Jules  at  your  leisure.  I 
can  count  a  score  already  married  since  I  came  into  the 
social  world,  and  I  know  of  several  who  would  not  refuse 
my  own  modest  title  and  impoverished  exchequer.  But  I 
mean  to  set  myself  high  and  try  to  get  beauty  with  gold," 
and  he  laughed  quite  complacently  at  this  candid  confession 
of  acquiescence  in  the  ruling  code  of  the  time. 

The  dancing  had  reached  an  Eleusinian  abandon  of  move 
ment  by  this  time,  and  the  young  men  walked  out  under  the 
leafy  arches,  where  the  birds,  astonished  by  the  unduly  pro 
longed  light,  murmured  musical  remonstrances  from  the 
verdurous  bowers  and  grottoes — scarcely  heeding  the  amor 
ous  whisperings  of  the  boozy  gaillards,  as  they  advanced 
through  the  fairy  dells. 


A  CHA  TEA  U  AT  CR&CY.  207 

CHAPTER  XV. 

A    CHATEAU    AT     CR^CY. 

THAT  much-contested  point  in  old-time  debating  clubs, 
the  pleasures  of  city  or  country  life,  finds  no  place  in 
the  unsettled  problems  of  French  existence.  The  French 
man  is  as  rare  as  a  white  blackbird,  who  does  not  count  upon 
the  time  when  the  sordid  struggle  of  city  life  shall  come  to 
an  end,  when  he  shall  betake  himself  to  the  village,  vale  or 
brookside  where  his  younger  years  were  passed.  Or,  if  city 
born,  to  some  secluded  suburb  of  the  town  where  he  may 
share  his  heart  with  Pan  and  Pallas.  While  the  city  of  the 
Violet  Crown  was  never  dearer  to  the  Greek  than  Paris  to 
the  Frenchman,  the  4atter  sighs  for  the  fields  that  the  former 
never  beheld  but  with  disgust.  It  would  perhaps  be  rash  to 
say  that  Crecy  was  the  most  charming  landscape  in  France, 
every  mile  of  which  captivates  the  lover  of  the  tranquil  and 
picturesque,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  no  other  equal  space  of 
the  earth's  surface  is  more  favored  in  the  natural  and  artificial 
beauties  that  enchant  the  imagination.  Though  but  an  hour 
from  the  teeming  life  of  Paris,  the  little  valley  wherein  the 
ancient  village  nestles  seems  as  distant  from  the  madding 
crowd  as  the  most  secluded  hamlet  of  the  Savoyard  Alps. 
Elliot  made  it  a  point  to  wait  for  his  friend,  lest  he  should 
make  some  pretext  of  not  coming  at  the  last  moment.  At 
the  little  station  of  Esbly  they  were  entrusted  to  the  hospita 
ble  care  of  Madame  Perrinot,  who  drove  the  old-fashioned 
diligence  to  all  the  little  towns  between  the  railway  and 
Meaux — famous  as  the  episcopal  seat  of  the  renowned  Bos- 
suet.  Madame  Perrinot  had  the  reddest  cheeks  and  blackest 
eyes  ever  seen  on  a  mortal  woman.  Madame's  only  griefs 
in  life  were  a  rival  line  and  a  drunken  reprobate  of  a  hus 
band.  The  latter  she  managed  with  intrepid  decision  when 
the  worst  came  to  the  worst,  but  to  circumvent  the  other  she 


208  TRAJAN. 

was  forever  called  on  to  exert  the  most  diverse  expedients. 
Could  she  have  been  at  her  diligence  door  and  the  station 
gate  at  one  and  the  same  moment,  every  thing  would  have 
worked  well.  But,  alas,  the  bloom  of  her  red  cheeks  could 
be  in  one  place  only.  Claude,  her  small  son,  was  not  always 
equal  to  retaining  the  clients  her  persuasive  bloom  captured 
at  the  station  gate ;  for  it  must  be  owned  that  the  rival  dili 
gence  was  far  more  inviting  than  the  decrepit  nondescript 
Madame  Perrinot  put  at  the  disposal  of  her  patrons.  What 
with  the  red  cheeks  and  cordial  welcome  of  "  La  Perrinot," 
as  she  was  called  for  short,  and  the  recommendations  of  her 
clients,  she  bore  off  most  of  the  wayfarers  descending  at  the 
station.  It  was  noted,  too,  that  the  men  invariably  gave  the 
preference  to  La  Perrinot.  The  ill-natured  gossips  along 
the  route,  in  the  tattling  towns  of  Romaine,  Breuil,  Les 
Huppes  and  Francoy,  declared  that  it  was  the  shrewd  tongue 
and  red  cheeks  of  the  honest  Perrinot  that  brought  about 
this  scandalous  monopoly.  On  the  other  hand,  many  of  the 
rich  bourgeoisie  in  the  chateaux  of  the  district  protested 
that  they  chose  the  conveyance  of  Jelybotte  because  it  was 
more  commodious  and  had  springs,  and  that  La  Perrinot's 
vehicle  was  a  torture.  When  the  train  stopping  one  day, 
La  Perrinot  spied  Trajan  she  saluted  him  through  the 
iron  railings  as  one  who  meets  an  old  friend. 

"A  la  bonne  heure,  Monsieur  Traje" — the  name  had  al 
ways  been  too  much  for  madame's  tongue — "  I  expected 
you.  I  knew  from  Madame  Arden  that  you  were  coming." 

"  A  relic  of  former  conquest  ? "  asked  Elliot  as  Trajan 
shook  hands  with  his  old  friend. 

"  Yes  indeed,  the  best  of  friends  is  Madame  Perrinot. 
Let  me  present  you." 

Jelybotte  of  the  rival  diligence  glowered  at  the  young 
men.  While  the  stuffy  seats  of  La  Perrinot  were  all  taken, 
but  one  patron,  an  English  governess,  had  the  whole  of  the 
Jelybotte's  capacious  chariot  to  herself  and  her  boxes. 
Madame  Perrinot's  joy  was  in  such  a  triumph  as  this. 


A   CHA  TEA  U  AT  CRECY.  209 

Victory  to  be  complete,  must  taste,  to  the  full,  the  humiliation 
of  the  vanquished.  "  Come,  Jelybotte,  give  me  a  hand  with 
this  heavy  baggage — you  have  the  time,"  she  added,  ma 
liciously  glancing  over  her  shoulder  at  the  single  pilgrim  in 
the  diligence.  "  Perhaps  I  shall  ask  you  to  take  some  of 
the  boxes." 

It  often  happened  that  madame's  passengers  were  in  a 
hurry  for  their  baggage  and  could  not  wait  until  she  re 
turned  to  fetch  it.  On  these  rare  occasions  Jelybotte  was 
patronized  by  the  mistress  of  the  diligence.  He  gave  her 
a  hand  with  an  air  of  ludicrous  resignation — but  Tra 
jan  unconscious  of  the  compact — seeing  the  crazy  old 
vehicle  would  be  over-laden,  called  out  : 

"  You  may  leave  our  baggage  for  your  next  '  return.' 

"  Trh  bien"  responded  madame  complacently,  shooting 
a  glance  out  of  her  wicked  eye  at  her  crest-fallen  competitor. 

"  But  it  is  not  very  well,"  roared  that  indignant  victim  of 
his  rival's  wiles,  contrasting  his  empty  coach  with  the 
shabby,  but  crowded,  vehicle  of  his  enemy.  "  You  knew 
when  you  offered  me  the  baggage,  that  it  was  only  a  ruse  to 
get  my  help.  You  have  served  me  that  coup  before,  and  I 
won't  stand  it.  I  shall  take  the  load  all  the  same  and  you 
shall  pay  me  two  francs." 

La  Perrinot  loved  combat,  when  she  had  a  good  audience. 
She  turned  from  the  diligence,  where  she  had  been  prepar 
ing  to  mount,  and  confronted  the  glowering  Jelybotte. 
The  young  men  on  the  seat  believed  themselves  to  be 
thoroughly  familiar  with  the  French  tongue.  The  dialogue 
that  ensued  undeceived  them.  But  they  understood  enough 
to  comprehend  how  it  was  that  poor  Perrinot  gave  way  to 
his  dame.  I  grieve  to  say  that  in  the  intoxication  of  her 
triumph,  the  rosy  matron  eschewed  decorum  as  well  as  mag 
nanimity  ;  with  her  arms  akimbo  on  her  fat  hips  and  prancing 
like  a  pantomimist,  under  the  very  nose  of  her  exasperated 
rival,  she  favored  the  company  with  something  more  than 
plain-speaking,  until  in  the  heat  of  the  discussion  Jelybotte 
14 


210  TRAJAN. 

incautiously  alluded  to  domestic  mysteries  of  the  Perrinots, 
which  elicited  some  revelations  as  to  the  Jelybotte  house 
hold  that  Rousseau  would  have  hesitated  to  embalm  in  the 
expansiveness  of  his  confessions.  The  poor  man  put  his 
hands  to  his  ears,  fled  to  his  vehicle  and  drove  off  cracking 
his  long  whip  furiously  and  lashing  the  horses  to  revenge  his 
discomfiture.  Madame  mounted  to  her  seat  with  unim 
paired  serenity,  confiding  to  the  young  men,  who  sat  outside 
with  her,  that  the  fellow  was  a  worthless  imbecile  and  she 
didn't  see  how  decent  people  could  consent  to  ride  with 
him  ? 

Elliot  allowed  that  it  was  surprising  in  view  of  the  dis 
closures  madame  had  found  it  necessary  to  make. 

"And  those  are  not  the  worst  do  you  know,"  she  began 
vivaciously,  plying  her  whip  with  energy,  as  if  the  wretch 
Jelybotte  were  there  instead  of  the  unoffending  sorrel — "  do 
you  know" — 

"Tell  me,"  interposed  Trajan  to  divert  the  honest  woman 
from  further  scandal,  which  he  knew  from  past  experience 
would  be  carried  to  embarrasing  details,"-  •"  tell  me,  are 
the  Comtesse  Epinay  and  family  at  Crecy  this  season  ? " 

"  Ah — yes  indeed,  all  the  villas  are  full.  There  is  an 
American  prince  in  the  Chateau  Duclos,  with  an  army  of 
servants  and  I  think  a  hundred  horses." 

"  What  is  the  name?"  asked  Trajan,  more  to  keep  the 
voluble  lady  from  her  favorite  topic  than  to  hear  the  name. 

"  Gobel — Govel — something  like  that — they  have  no  end  of 
millions — but  doubtless,  they  are  friends  of  monsieur, 
since  you  will  be  near  neighbors." 

The  young  man  had  no  friends  of  that  name,  madame 
was  pained  to  learn.  She  continued  chattering  incessantly, 
but  as  neither  Trajan  nor  Elliot  responded  or  encouraged 
further  confidence  she  soon  relapsed  into  silence  and  gave 
them  an  opportunity  to  study  the  incomparable  landscape. 
The  road,  hard  as  rock  and  smooth  as  the  surface  of  a 
stream,  ran  fenceless  over  low  ridges,  covered  with  lush 


A   CHA  7^EA  U  AT  CRECY.  211 

grasses  and  golden  grain.  Tall  poplars  set  at  regular  dis 
tances  made  it  a  vast  vernal  lane,-  barred  with  shimmering 
sun  rays.  From  the  top  of  each  ridge,  villages  nestling  in 
fluffy  verdure  could  be  seen  on  either  hand.  Sometimes  the 
mansard  and  gables  of  a  chateau  could  be  seen  as  the  main 
road  crossed  the  way  to  a  seignorial  domain.  A  canal  for 
irrigation  followed  the  road  all  the  way,  its  waters  as  clear 
and  limpid  as  a  mountain  stream  ;  at  each  village  this  was 
crossed  by  venerable  granite  arches  upon  whose  parapets 
dates  as  far  back  as  1640  were  easily  discernible. 

"  This  is  simply  enchanting,"  exclaimed  Elliot,  as  the 
diligence  climbed  to  the  last  hill,  from  which  Crecy  could 
be  seen  embowered  in  foliage.  "  How  can  any  one  consent 
to  live  immured  in  cities  with  such  divine  pictures  as  this  at 
hand?" 

"  Divine  pictures  don't  fill  the  purse,  nor  keep  the  wheels 
of  industry  in  movement,"  replied  Trajan  absently.  "The 
delight  of  this  place"  is  that  you  never  tire  of  its  tranquil 
beauty — while  I  confess  I  do  tire  of  mountains  and  the 
rugged  wild  woods.  I  could  pass  my  life  here  in  perfect 
contentment." 

"  I  doubt  it,"  said  Elliot.  "  It  is  too  perfect,  you  would 
soon  sigh  for  something  to  readjust,  something  to  change. 
All  this  seems  so  studiously  graceful  and  exquisite  that  the 
very  completeness  of  it  would  madden  me.  I  like  to  have 
some  handiwork  in  transforming  nature  to  the  physical  or 
aesthetic  wants  of  man." 

"  That  is  consistent  with  your  theory  of  labor.  But  we 
shall  be  at  "  Les  Charmettes"  in  a  moment."  The  diligence 
left  the  high  way  and  turned  into  a  wide  shaded  carriage- 
road  leading  to  a  mass  of  light  colored  buildings,  two  stories 
high  and  crowned  with  a  mansard  and  square  dormer 
windows.  As  the  diligence  crunched  around  the  circular 
graveled  way  the  piazza  of  the  chateau  came  into  view. 
There  was  a  group  waiting,  and  when  the  young  men  were 
recognized,  a  lively  waving  of  hats  and  handkerchiefs.  La 


212  TRAJAN. 

Perrinot  brought  her  horses  around  with  an  imposing  sweep, 
and  in  a  moment  Edifh  was  hanging  on  Elliot's  neck. 
He  kissed  her  fondly,  and  releasing  her  as  Mrs.  Arden  came 
down  the  two  steps  to  embrace  him,  he  whispered  :  "  Be 
very  informal  to  Gray."  She  gave  the  young  man  her  hand, 
confiding  her  delight,  that  he  was  to  be  one  of  the  family  of 
"  Charmettes."  There  was  a  very  cordial  welcome  for 
Trajan  from  the  whole  family,  Bella  coming  last  and 
remarking  : 

"  I  suppose,  Mr.  Gray,  you  know  the  chateau  of  Char 
mettes  familiarly,  as  you  must  have  been  here  often,  while 
at  Crecy  ?  " 

"  Yes,  the  Dartleys  are  delightful  people,  and  I  was  re 
ceived  very  kindly." 

"  Edith  and  I  have  been  on  voyages  of  discovery  in  the 
house,  and  we  are  confident  we  have  come  upon  a  ghost  ; 
but  we  have  waited  for  Elliot  and  you  to  confront  the 
monster — are  you  up  in  spirits  ?"  asked  Bella. 

"  I  sometimes  raise  them,"  replied  Trajan  smiling. 

"  From  fancy,  or  the  vasty  deep  ?  " 

"  No — from  the  blues." 

"  Mr.  Gray,  we  have  arranged  your  room  next  to  my 
son's,  and  the  young  ladies  have  taken  upon  themselves  the 
responsibility  of  choosing  you  a  studio — in  the  roof — Bella 
will  tell  you  the  reason.  I  don't  profess  to  understand  so 
much  about  the  external  necessities  of  your  art,"  said  Mrs. 
Arden,  as  Pierre  came  to  take  up  such  luggage  as  the  young 
men  had  brought  from  the  station.  The  Charmettes  dif 
fered  slightly  from  most  French  chateaux  of  the  seven 
teenth  century.  It  had  been  almost  entirely  rebuilt  within 
a  hundred  years.  Instead  of  a  quadrangle,  the  center  was 
flanked  by  two  wings,  leaving  a  court  in  front  and  rear.  The 
halls  instead  of  dividing  the  buildings  ran  along  the  rear 
wall  giving  place  for  spacious  chambers  on  every  floor.  The 
staircases  were  at  each  end  of  the  wings  instead  of  the 
middle,  which  was  taken  up  by  a  great  suit  of  drawing- 


A  CHA  TEA  U  AT  CR&CY.  213 

rooms.  The  large  dining  hall  seating  two  score  guests,  and  an 
almost  equally  spacious  breakfast  room,  were  in  the  south 
wing.  The  owner  must  have  designed  the  Charmettes  for  good 
cheer,  and  plenty  to  share  it,  for  fifty  people  could  be  very 
comfortably  housed,  while  the  cellars  and  kitchens  afforded 
place  for  a  year's  provisions.  The  furnishing  was  of  the 
white  and  gold,  called  Louis  XIV.,  not  unwelcome  for 
summer,  but  fragile  and  chilling  in  winter.  The  rich  tap 
estries  and  rugs  covering  the  halls  and  chambers  were 
brought  by  the  Ardens,  the  French  rarely  using  carpets  or 
hangings  in  country  houses  in  summer. 

The  young  men  found  sumptuous  quarters  in  the  south 
wing,  a  dressing  room  alone  separating  them.  A  vast  can 
opied  bed,  which  Elliot  likened  to  a  funeral  car,  with  the  head 
scrupulously  to  the  north,  took  up  a  large  part  of  each 
room.  As  the  irreverent  Elliot  was  discoursing  on  the 
quaint  objects,  whose  uses  puzzled  him,  Edith's  voice  was 
heard  in  the  hall. 

"  I  came  to  tell  you  that  you  will  only  have  time  to  dress. 
We  dine  at  five  and  drive  after  dinner,  unless  Mr.  Gray  feels 
fatigued — and  oh,  Ned — who  do  you  imagine  has  taken  the 
neighboring  chateau — Duclos  ?  I  know  you  could  never 
guess." 

"  No,  I  don't  think  I  could  !     Not  our  French  cook  ?  " 

"  Don't  be  absurd." 

"  Well,  I  don't  see  why  he  shouldn't,  judging  by  the  way 
he  plundered  us.  Nothing  would  be  more  natural  than  his 
keeping  near  our  mother,  as  he  must  know  she  is  a  gold  mine 
under  his  hands." 

"  I  won't  have  you  tease  mamma  about  that  odious  fellow. 
But  aren't  you  curious  to  know  our  neighbors  ?  " 

"  Yes,  since  I  know  it  will  please  you,  pussikin.  Who 
in  the  name  of  all  that's  mysterious  can  it  be  ?  "  asked  Elliot 
as  if  his  happiness  were  staked  on  the  response. 

"  I  shall  not  tell  you,  Mr.  Indifference.  I'm  not  going  to 
be  treated  like  a  magpie  chattering  gossip,  and  I  know  that 


2 14  TRAJAN, 

you  won't  be  able  to  give  your  mind  to  your  neck-tie,  won 
dering  who  it  is." 

"  Who — the  magpie  is  ?  "  asked  Elliot  innocently.  "  Why 
that's  Bella."  But  Edith  wouldn't  remain  for  further  tor 
menting,  and  ran  down  stairs.  When'  the  young  men 
reached  the  dining  room  Bella  came  up  to  Elliot  laughing  and 
demanding  that  he  should  do  penance  for  abusing  his  sis 
ter. 

"  What,  by  calling  my  cousin  Bella  a  magpie  ?  It  was  only  a 
guess,  I  assure  you.  I  should  have  said  owl  if  I  had  thought 
for  a  moment." 

Bella  opened  her  eyes.  "  This  is  too  mysterious  for  me. 
Edith  told  me  that  she  couldn't  stimulate  your  curiosity 
about  the  occupant  of  the  chateau  yonder.  My  own  im 
pression  is  that  you  already  knew,  for  in  gossip  men  are  far 
more  curious  than  women." 

"  Yes,"  said  Trajan,  smiling  at  Bella,  "  you  have  divined 
his  duplicity.  Madame  La  Perrinot  had  already  told  us  that 
it  was  an  American  and  a  millionaire.  It  is  true  she  wasn't 
quite  sure  of  the  name,  but  that's  a  mere  trifle  compared 
with  the  fact  that  he's  a  millionaire.  Millionaires,  like  kings, 
require  no  names  to  distinguish  them  from  common  folks." 

Elliot  burst  into  a  hearty  laugh.  "  Ton  my  soul,  Gray, 
you're  a  reckless  satirist.  The  young  lady  before  you  will 
not  be  apt  to  forget  your  humor,  and  if  madame  our  mamma 
were  present,  she  would  probably  have  something  to  say." 

Trajan  looked  from  Elliot  to  Bella  and  blushed.  The 
fact  that  the  Ardens  and  Briscoes  might  also  be  millionaires 
flashed  upon  him.  Elliot  hastened  to  turn  the  subject. 

"  Who  is  Gobel — I  never  heard  of  him.  Do  you  know 
him  or  them,  Edith  ?  "  That  young  lady  justly  outraged  by 
her  previous  rebuff,  declined  to  enlighten  the  scoffer,  and  it 
was  not  until  seated  at  the  table  that  Mrs.  Arden  said  : 
"  Apropos  of  the  drive,  Elliot,  we  shall  be  favored  with  a 
glimpse  of  the  Grovels,  who  have  taken  the  Duclos  cha 
teau." 


A   CHA  TEA  U  AT  CRECY.  2 1 5 

"  The  Grovels  !  "  gasped  Elliot.  "  You  don't  mean  it, 
mother?  " 

"  Why  not  ?  They  left  their  cards  yesterday,  and  you 
must  call  in  due  time." 

"  If  the  Grovels  ever  find  my  card  in  their  tray  they'll 
have  to  steal  it.  I  don't  want  to  know  such  people  !  " 

"  But  as  head  of  the  family,  I  don't  see  how  you  can  very 
well  escape  it,"  replied  Mrs.  Arden.  "  Of  course  they  will 
know  you  are  here — in  fact  young  Mr.  Grovel  asked  me  if 
the  'men  folks  '  were  corning  out." 

"  And  what  do  you  suppose  he  proposed  to  Bella  ?  "  cried 
Edith,  looking  at  Elliot  to  avoid  Bella's  uneasy  and  reproach 
ful  glance.  "He  absolutely  proffered  her  the  use  of  one  of 
his  Mexican  ponies  to  skirmish  round  the  *  diggins '  as  he 
called  the  country." 

Bella  joined  the  burst  of  laughter,  though  she  blushed,  I'm 
sure  I  don't  know  why,  for  ten  minutes  afterward. 

"  By  George  !  Gray — let's  cultivate  the  Grovels  and  see 
the  wonderful  horses.  We  could  stand  the  men  for  the  sake 
of  those  remarkable  beasts.  If  their  tricks  are  as  odd  as  their 
master's,  they  must  be  well  worth  acquaintance.  Aunt 
Briscoe,  you  don't  mean  to  say  that  you  encouraged  the 
Grovel  !  " 

Aunt  Briscoe's  comments  on  character  were  always 
encouraged  by  the  younger  members  of  the  family.  She  had 
some  tricks  of  expression  that  convulsed  Elliot  with  merri 
ment.  She  was,  however,  very  chary  of  her  judgments 
before  strangers,  and  it  was  not  for  some  time  that  Trajan 
realized  the  shrewd  profundity  of  this  observant  fain^ante. 
Hence,  when  this  young  man  asked  his  aunt's  appreciation 
of  the  Grovel  she  knew  that  he  was  bent  upon  exploiting 
her  credulity,  and  she  gave  a  guarded  response. 

"  I  found  the  young  man  sensible.  His  manners  don't 
differ  much  from  those  of  the  usual  underbred  people  of  his 
class,  but  considering  his  chances  he  has  made  very  good 
use  of  them.  I  have  seen  people  enjoying  more  advantages 


216  TRAJAtf. 

who  make  a  much  poorer  figure  in  company,"  she  said  with 
placid  decision. 

Every  body  laughed,  and  Elliot  turned  discomfited  to  his 
cousin,  asking  insinuatingly  whether  that  young  lady  expected 
a  disciple  in  the  Grovel. 

"  I  fancy,  rather,  that  he  will  be  an  evangel  in  this  wilder 
ness.  He  gave  himself  a  most  exemplary  character.  He 
confided  to  us  that  he  never  '  indulged  in  spirits,'  and  the 
habit  of  this  country  in  substituting  wine  for  water,  he 
thought  an  iniquity.  His  mother,  dwelling  upon  *  Lafayette's ' 
virtues — -.he  drops  the  Washington  in  France — remarked  that 
he  would  be  a  perfect  young  man  if  he  didn't  eat  so  much 
tobacco." 

"  Eat  tobacco  ?  "  exclaimed  Elliot. 

"  He  chews  tobacco,  it  seems,  and  his  mother  laments  that 
nothing  can  break  the  odious  habit,  which  he  learned  in  his 
ranching  days  in  Montana." 

"  I  believe  he  was  trying  to  ingratiate  himself  with  your 
aunt,"  said  Mrs.  Arden.  "  He  dwelt  with  great  fervor  on 
his  unshakable  resolution  to  remain  a  *  teetotaler.'  ' 

Mrs.  Briscoe  denied  that  this  had  captivated  her,  but 
Elliot  declared  that  he  was  going  straightway  to  emulate  the 
Grovel — by  doing  all  his  wine-bibbing  in  the  secrecy  of  his 
own  chamber. 

Dinner  over,  the  young  people  mounted  their  horses,  while 
Mrs.  Arden  and  her  sister  jogged  after  them  in  a  light  vic 
toria.  Trajan  rode  with  Edith,  and  Elliot  with  Bella.  But 
as  the  roads  were  unknown  to  the  latter  couple,  the  party 
were  for  the  most  of  the  time  four  abreast,  and  the  artist 
pointed  out  the  ways  leading  to  such  scenic  wonders  as  were 
to  be  visited  in  turn.  It  was  dusk  as  they  turned  back.  The 
road  homeward  led  them  past  the  village  of  Ferrieres,  and 
the  sumptuous  chateau  of  the  Rothschilds,  which  in  the  dim 
twilight  seemed,  at  first  sight,  a  Tuileries  transplanted  to  this 
vernal  spot.  As  the  party  came  to  the  high  golden-barred 
gates,  an  equipage  was  just  on  the  point  of  driving  off. 


A  CHA  TEA  U  AT  CRECY.  2 1 7 

"  There  are  the  Grovels,"  said  Edith,  "  I  recognize  the 
voice  of  Washington  Lafayette.  I  won.der  if  he  knows  the 
Baron  ?  " 

"  It  is  not  necessary  to  know  the  Baron  or  his  family  to 
enter  the  chateau,"  rejoined  Trajan.  "  Cards  of  admission 
can  be  obtained  by  writing  to  the  major-domo.  The 
chateau  is  the  most  famous  show-house  in  Europe,  and  the 
first  day  you  have  leisure  you  could  not  do  better  than  induce 
the  family  to  come  over  and  examine  the  treasures  of  bric-a- 
brac  and  household  adornment  lavished  on  the  six  score  or 
more  apartments  of  this  colossal  pile." 

"  Which  of  the  Rothschilds  lives  here  ? "  asked  Edith, 
looking  at  the  vast  front,  with  the  colonnades  of  marble 
shining  in  the  moonlight. 

"  Baron  Alphonse.  It  was  here  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
were  entertained  a  year  or  so  ago — when  the  service — solid 
gold — was  melted  down  immediately  after  the  event,  that 
no  common  lips  might  ever  desecrate  what  majesty  had 
touched.  The  way  from  here  to  Paris,  twenty-seven  miles, 
was  lighted  with  gas  ;  the  trees  were  hung  with  Venetian 
lamps.  The  court  came  out  by  the  road,  in  carriages  fur 
nished  by  Rothschild,  to  imitate  the  pageantry  of  Louis 
XIV.,  as  recorded  in  Watteau's  canvases.  The  chateau  itself 
is  much  more  sumptuous  than  the  Tuileries,  as  you  shall  see 
when  we  go  through." 

"  I  am  surprised  that  such,  treasures  are  safe  in  a  lonely 
country  place  like  this,"  said  Elliot.  "  An  enterprising  band 
of  the  rogues  that  rob  our  banks  at  home,  would  make  short 
work  of  so  tempting  a  place." 

"  It's  not  as  easy  a  thing  to  do  as  you  fancy,"  said  Trajan. 
"  The  chateau  is  guarded  by  an  army  of  servants — at  least 
two  hundred,  counting  the  stables.  Then  the  village,  con 
nected  by  a  subterranean  way,  is  really  but  a  dependence  of 
the  estate.  A  signal  from  the  housekeeper  would  bring  five 
hundred  men  in  a  few  minutes.  Wait  until  you  have  seen 
the  interior  and  you  will  see  how  well  every  thing  is 
guarded." 


-'  1 3  TRAJAN. 

The  return  to  Cre'cy  was  under  the  moonlight,  and  it  was 
after  ten  when  the  horses  were  sent  away.  Long  after  mid 
night,  the  nightingales  in  the  neighboring  lindens  were  evi 
dently  astounded  by  lights  high  up  in  the  mansard  of  the 
chateau,  where  the  two  friends  were  putting  the  studio  in 
order  for  the  anticipated  work  of  the  summer.  Many  a  time 
afterward  the  comrades  recalled  these  ideal  nights,  when, 
after  the  pleasures  and  cares  of  the  day,  they  came  together 
in  kind  effusiveness  on  their  mutual  ground  of  endeavor.  It 
would  be  profitable  as  a  diagnosis  of  the  swift  change  going 
on  in  Trajan,  to  follow  the  current  of  the  young  men's  talk, 
but  as  results  will  illustrate  the  lad's  adaptation  to  his  new 
surroundings,  the  ingenious  combats  of  the  two  may  be  sup 
posed.  At  an  age  when  ideas  are  plenty,  the  two  were  at  no 
loss  for  themes  of  infinite  dilatation.  The  groves  of  the 
Academy  were  not  more  fertile  in  profoundly  metaphysical 
theses. 

The  nightingale  had  ceased  to  sing  when  the  friends 
descended  to  their  rooms,  and  the  white  roofs  of  Crecy  were 
bathed  in  floods  of  hazy  moonlight.  The  morning  chorus 
had  begun  in  the  trees  when  Trajan  arose  from  the  window 
and  retired  to  tranquil  dreams  under  the  great  canopy.  When 
he  opened  his  eyes  late  in  the  morning  a  servant  was  holding 
the  curtains,  and  his  coffee  and  rolls  were  on  the  little  table 
by  the  bed.  Elliot's  voice  sounded  from  the  next  room  car 
oling  a  gay  French  air.  At  twelve  o'clock  the  household 
gathered  in  the  breakfast  room,  and  thereafter  each  member 
was  left  to  his  or  her  own  devices.  The  yourfg  ladies  were 
going  to  the  station  to  meet  expected  guests,  but  Trajan, 
declaring  that  he  must  begin  the  regime  properly,  declined 
Elliot's  invitation  to  accompany  them,  and  betook  himself  to 
the  atelier,  where  the  young  people  threatened  an  invasion 
in  force  so  soon  as  the  new  comers  were  bestowed  in  their 
rooms.  The  atelier  commanded  a  sweep  of  the  country,  and 
Trajan  standing  at  the  window  saw  the  cavalcade  moving 
through  the  grounds  and  followed  it  with  his  eyes  until  the 


A   CHA  TEA  U  AT  CRECY.  219 

poplars  closed  it  from  his  sight.  The  servants  had  opened 
the  boxes,  and  he  occupied  himself  in  adjusting  the  tapes 
tries,  armor  and  easels.  When  he  had  ended  his  work  the 
apartment  was  an  ideal  studio,  and  though  it  lacked  a  sky 
light,  the  large  dormer  windows  on  two  sides  gave  abundance 
of  light.  He  fell  to  sketching  valorously.  The  outlines 
were  not,  however,  his  favorite  landscape.  It  was  a  girlish 
head  with  a  bewitching  dimpled  chin  and  oval  face,  which 
without  curls  and  the  delicacy  of  the  lines,  might  have  been 
a  study  of  Elliot.  Why  did  he  cover  the  sheet  guiltily,  an 
hour  later,  as  he  heard  footsteps  approaching  the  door  ? 

"  Presto,  what  a  wizard  you  are,  Gray  !  The  place  has  a 
new  physiognomy.  It's  almost  as  picturesque  as  your 
Dragon  retreat,"  exclaimed  Elliot,  who  entered,  followed  by 
Bella  and  Edith. 

These  charming  beings  were  delighted  with  the  shrine  art 
had  fashioned  itself.  Trajan  pointed  out  the  niches  in 
which  the  devotees  were  to  worship,  and  said  with  gravity  : 

"  But  here  every  thing  is  to  be  solemn  and  orderly.  You 
are  not  to  joke  and  talk,  as  I  am  given  to  understand  is  the 
habit  of  young  ladies.  The  prize  I  offer  the  best  worker  is 
a  portrait  of  the  prodigy  who* turns  out  the  most  apt." 

"In  that  event,  you  may  just  as  well  begin  on  Bella's  at 
once,  because  she  is  the  only  Arden  that  has  what  the 
French  call  *  suite '  in  her  undertakings.  I'll  lay  you  ten 
to  one,  Gray,  that  she  beats  all  in  portraits  within  three 
months,"  said  Elliot,  jocularly. 

"  Painting,  unlike  poetry  or  any  other  art,  doesn't  come 
by  assiduity.  It  is  made  up  of  faith  and  abnegation.  I 
doubt  very  much  Miss  Bella's  constancy,  after  she  has  seen 
the  beauties  that  surround  Crecy.  She  will  feel  as  the 
young  poet  does  who  reads  Shakespeare  and  then  strives  to 
put  his  infantile  language  into  shape." 

"  But  let  us  hope  that  Bella  may  prove  an  exception,  for 
there's  nothing  infantile  about  her  fancies,"  said  Edith, 
laughing. 


220  TRAJAN. 

"Pray  let  me  answer  for  myself,  Busybodies.  I  shall 
be  quite  content  if  I  can  ever  draw  passably.  As  for  the 
mystery  of  color,  I  shall  no  more  think  of  mastering  that 
than  I  should  think  of  enjoying  the  beauties  of  Crecy  by 
being  able  to  resolve  them  into  their  original  elements. 
There'll  be  no  Rosa  Bonheur  nor  Ary  Scheffer  in  this  gen 
eration  of  the  Ardens." 

"Who  knows  ?  I  feel  equal  to  a  conquest,"  cried  Edith, 
suspending  her  pencil  reflectively.  "  See  how  well  I've 
caught  those  eyes,"  and  she  poised  her  head  critically  as 
she  surveyed  a  large-eyed  peasant  with  his  scythe  poised 
above  his  head  and  an  expression  so  lugubrious  that  it 
might  be  suspected  that  he  was  in  doubt  whether  the  uten 
sil  were  an  implement  of  toil  or  an  improvised  gibbet. 

"Yes,  Edith,  I  have  remarked  that  you  catch  the  eyes, 
but  don't  be  too  confident ;  art,  like  love,  requires  to  go 
deeper,"  and  Bella  gave  the  unwary  neophyte  a  strange  look 
of  mingled  mischief  and  mirth. 

"You're  always  going  deep  into  things,  Bella,  and  the 
worst  is,  one  can't  follow  you.  What  has  love  or  depth  got 
to  do  with  a  mill  landscape,  and  peasant,  and  red-haired 
girl?" 

"  That  depends  on  a  good  deal.  If  the  peasant  is  young, 
unmarried  and  sentimental,  the  heart  should  be  the  chief 
study,  especially  if  the  red-haired  girl  is  made  to  look  pro 
pitious,"  volunteered  Elliot  in  an  ex-cathedra  tone,  from 
which  a  full  knowledge  of  art  and  heart  might  be  inferred. 
Bella  laughed  softly  and  stole  a  glance  at  Trajan,  absorbed 
in  a  sheet  almost  entirely  invisible  under  carelessly  arranged 
cards. 

"  We  must  inaugurate  our  regime  by  promptitude,  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  and  I  warn  you  that  the  dinner  hour  is  near, 
and  though  art  is  long  and  life  short,  it  can't  be  stretched 
by  fostering,"  and  the  vandal  Elliot  began  to  gather  together 
Bella's  materials.  There  was  an  outcry  from  both  the 
amateurs,  but  he  was  inexorable. 


THEO    RESUMES  THE  COMEDY.  221 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

THEO.    RESUMES    THE    COMEDY. 
U 


T 


HE  first  state  dinner  at  Les  Charmettes  is  to  be  an 
affair,"  said  Elliot,  distracting  the  artists  from  their 
work  as  the  signals  of  the  banquet  came  from  an  emissary 
of  the  butler.  "  As  host  I  will  take  the  part  of  chorus  and 
paint  the  character  of  the  personages  for  your  better  under 
standing  of  the  drama. 

"  First  in  the  list,  Kate  McNair,  a  distant  relation  of  Bella's 
father's  family,  a  perfect  trump  of  an  old  girl.  Devoted  to 
match-making  and  the  kirk.  She'll  have  you  married 
before  you  mix  your  second  pot  of  colors  unless  you  look 
sharp.  She  hates  a  Catholic  as  rats  hate  terriers  or  philos 
ophers  science  !  She  has  been-  in  her  forty-first  year 
ever  since  I've  known  a  beard's  adversity — a  razor.  She 
wears  gowns  such  as  Johnson  must  have  had  in  his  eye  on 
his  jaunt  to  the  Hebrides.  She  has  a  wit  like  a  beggar's  first 
born  at  breast,  nipping  and  eager.  She  speaks  the  English 
tongue  with  a  cooing  Scotch  grace,  which  I  think  she  retains 
as  a  sign  that  the  Scot  has  not  surrendered  every  thing  to 
the  Sassenach,  that  Bruce  died  for  and  Sir  Walter  wrote  to 
revive  ;  she  will  learn  every  love  affair  recorded  in  the 
remotest  corner  of  your  inconstant  heart  before  she  has 
known  you  a  week.  As  is  your  knowledge  of  the  kirk  and 
the  Covenanters,  so  will  her  love  be  to  you  ;  if  you  are 
ignorant  of  a  single  article  of  the  creed  the  Murrayites 
and  the  Campbells  contended  for,  she  will  feed  you  on  the 
porridge  of  disdain,  and  no  genuflexions  of  the  children  of 
the  world  will  make  her  abide  you.  The  Ardens  she  dimly 
associates  with  those  that  were  forgotten  when  the  prophet 
went  up  in  fire.  Bella,  here,  as  being  gifted  with  some  of 
her  own  oat-fed  wit,  she  regards  as  the  Zenobia  of  girls." 

"  You  impudent  and  disrespectful  mischief-maker,  how 


222  TRAJAN. 

dare  you!  "  cries  Bella.  "  Mr.  Gray,  our  relation  is  no  more 
like  the  picture  this  insolent  maligner  of  his  kith  paints, 
than — than  a " 

"Wasp  to  a  humming-bird  ?" 

"  Than  a  March  wind  to  a  June  breeze — or  vinegar  to 
acid  of  lemon — that's  better,  Bella,  accept  the  amendment. 
Well,  she's  weak  when  she  comes  to  Bella,  as  I  was 
remarking  in  this  pre-raphaelite  sketch.  She  domineers  over 
my  poor  mother,  wheedles  Aunt  Briscoe,  and  tolerates 
Edith,  because  she,  the  poor  child,  swallows  the  Covenanters, 
Knox  and  all,  with  trusting  confidence,  as  children  take 
nauseous  doses  to  get  better  terms  for  the  next  punishable 
prank." 

"I  won't  have  Kate  talked  about  in  this  way,"  remon 
strated  Edith.  "  She's  an  angel,  a " 

"Yes,  she's  the  descendant  of  the  angel  the  prophet 
wrestled  with,  and  inherits  all  the  belligerence  and  some  of 
the  prowess  of  her  ancestor.  She's  like  the  bent  hand  on 
the  face  of  the  clock,  always  catching  the  minute  hand, 
just  to  show  that  no  one  can  pass  her  in  the  duty  of  the 
hour.  She  will  devise  a  sermon  at  the  least  sinful  of  your 
suggestions.  If  you  were  a  woman,  she  would  make  the 
pains  of  Loyola  a  pastime,  compared  with  your  penance  for 
every  new  gown  or  casual  furbelow  you  might  thought 
lessly  assume  to  adorn  your  person.  She's  like  the  Puritan 
Macaulay  describes,  who  didn't  mind  the  suffering  of  the 
bear  in  baiting,  but  objected  to  the  pleasure  the  sinful 
derived  in  looking  on.  She  has  increased  the  Arden  bank 
account  by  the  simplicity  to  which  she  has  reduced  our 
wardrobe,  for  to  have  a  second  suit  I  am  obliged  to  keep 
chambers  out  of  her  inquisitorial  reach.  In  the  love  of  the 
Lord  she  will  get  up  a  war  in  ten  minutes  that  will  split 
families  into  undying  feuds.  Music  is  an  abhorrence  to  her, 
and  there  is  no  work  of  art  that  propitiates  her,  outside  of 
a  lurid  canvas  representing  John  Knox  impolitely  pointing 
a  finger  of  admonition  at  the  astonished  Queen  of  Scots, 


THEO.  RESUMES  THE  COMEDY.  223 

whose  ruff  expresses  the  horror  the  beautiful  face  was 
unequal  to.  She "•" 

"  I  won't  stand  such  calumny  ;  Mr.  Gray,  the  lady  this 
unworthy  relative  distorts  in  this  outrageous  fashion  is  the 
soul  of  kindness  and  adores  that  worthless  scamp  ;  has  pet 
ted  and  spoiled  him  all  his  life,  and  after  John  Knox,  thinks 
him  the  most  perfect  of  mankind.  She  is  a  trifle  vigorous 
in  speech,  and  dreadfully  sharp  in  seizing  the  little  points 
one  leaves  undefended  in  the  ardor  of  conversation.  Elliot's 
description  suits  her  as  the  likening  of  a  chestnut  burr  to  a 
peach,"  and  Bella  flung  a  glance  of  disdain  at  the  wanton 
destroyer  of  character. 

"  But  in  either  aspect,  I  own  to  considerable  dread  of 
encountering  a  personage  so  formidable,"  said  Trajan. 

"  Have  no  fear,  Mr.  Gray,  Kate  is  the  sweetest  and  best 
of  dear  old  souls,"  and  Edith  looked  at  him  with  naive 
conviction. 

"  Bear  in  mind,  Gray,  when  the  evil  time  comes,  I  have 
done  my  duty  as  man,  friend,  and  host.  I  have  warned  you 
of  the  perils  of  Kate's  acquaintance  ;  if  you  let  the  partiality 
of  these  young  women  lull  you,  there  will  come  a  time  of 
regret." 

"  I  will  at  once  begin  a  studious  siege  of  Scottish  history 
to  make  myself  tolerable  to  this  formidable  personage." 

"  Well,  let  me  go  on  in  my  part  of  the  chorus  and  acquaint 
you  with  the  personages  of  these  sylvan  revels.  I'll  leave 
the  females  to  Bella's  descriptive  genius  and  set  forth  the 
men.  First,  my  comrade  in  the  law  school,  a  roaring  social 
ist,  with  a  squint  at  communism  as  oblique  as  your  own," 
continued  Elliot,  with  affable  toleration  of  the  two  heretics. 
"  The  most  amazing  young  inconsequent  in  the  world, 
Rene  Belcour,  my  crony  in  the  law  school,  a  charming  fel 
low,  and  like  yourself  a  restless  revolutionaire,  in  love 
with  every  pretty  girl  he  sees,  so  be  on  your  guard,  young 
women.  Alfred  Claridge,  correspondent  of  the  London  Par 
thenon,  making  notes  for  essays  and  books.  Herbert  Hec- 


224  TRAJAN. 

tor,  a  Harvard  man,  graduate  in  law,  now  switched  into 
literature,  occasional  correspondent  of  the  Boston  Pantarch, 
somewhat  conceited  and  blast,  talks  like  Plato  and  acts  like 
a  child  of  nature — that  is,  holds  the  world  as  indisputably 
his  own  by  acquired  right." 

"  An  agreeable  personage,  truly,"  said  Trajan  in  dismay. 

"Oh,  he's  not  so  disagreeable  as  Elliot  paints  him,"  inter 
rupted  Bella,  working  away  in  her  niche.  "  He's  what  we 
call  bumptious,  but  very  good-natured.  My  mother  admires 
him  immensely  and  I  think  it  is  the  knowledge  of  that  that 
gives  our  Alcibiades  his  obliquity  of  vision  in  striking  his 
portrait." 

"  Very  well,  last  touch  to  Hector — adored  by  the 
descendant  of  the  Ardens  of  Warwick,"  continued  Elliot 
incorrigibly.  "  The  next  figure,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  the 
renowned  Vicomte  de  Bellechasse — descendant  and  heir- 
apparent  of  the  dukedom  of  Contre-Coeur — the  most  dashing, 
gorgeous,  impressible  young  nobleman,  untrue  to  divine 
right  and  lost  in  the  fleshpots  of  the  usurping  empire.  I 
have  left  the  ladies  for  the  last  tableau,  and  as  Bella  prefers 
her  brush  I  will  immortalize  these  :  In  order  of  age,  Mrs. 
Drayton,  wife  of  the  late  General  Drayton,  of  Lexington, 
Kentucky.  Blue  with  the  blood  that  percolated  through  ever 
so  many  aristocratic  veins,  from  Pocahontas  to  Custis-Lee. 
Daughter,  Mrs.  Rossitor,  wife  of  late  Governor  Rossitor,  of 
Virginia,  engaged  in  finding  a  suitable  husband  for  the  Miss 
Phoebe  Rossitor,  fascinating  witch  who  doesn't  take  to 
books,  but  dotes  on  young  men,  croquet,  dancing,  boating, 
and  other  agreeable  pastimes  that  require  the  masculine 
presence  to  make  endurable," 

"You  insufferable  egotist  and  gossip,  how  can  you  talk  so 
of  a  young  lady,"  cried  Bella  indignantly.  "Fancy,  Edith, 
that's  the  fashion  we  are  talked  of  by  these  odious  young 
men  whom  we  endure  out  of  politeness.  I  won't  listen  to 
such  malignant  aspersions  upon  our  sex,"  she  added,  putting 
her  hands  to  her  pretty  ears. 


TffEO.  RESUMES  THE  COMEDY.  225 

"  I  think  Elliot  has  sketched  his  persons  pretty  truly  so 
far,"  said  Edith,  composedly,  drawing  an  eccentric  curve  on 
her  paper,  under  Trajan's  guidance. 

"  Master  Tom  Rossitor  is  the  last  figure  in  this  interesting 
group.  Troublesome  young  cub,  sixteen  or  thereabout ;  ideal 
of  the  female  Rossitors  and  thorn  in  the  flesh  of  Miss  Phoebe. 
Now,  Gray,  you  are  au  fait  with  the  dramatis  persona" 

"But  remember,  Mr.  Gray,"  Edith  interposed,  "you  are 
to  be  enchanted  with  the  dear  old  Kate,  that  is  if  you're  not 
awed,"  added  the  little  maiden,  "  for  Kate  doesn't  approve 
of  every  body." 

"  Hello,  where  are  you  ?  "  exclaimed  a  well  known  voice 
in  the  hall,  "  where's  this  Cave  of  Calypso,  dedicated  to  the 
Graces  ?  "  and  Philip  appeared  in  the  doorway.  "  Ton  my 
word,  Gray,  you  have  the  gifts  of  Aladdin  ;  the  place  is  as 
like  your  Rue  *de  Dragon  parlor,  as  if  it  were  modeled 
on  it." 

"  I  brought  the  draperies  and  odds  and  ends  to  give  the 
room  a  work-like  look,"  said  Trajan.  "  The  imagination 
needs  a  good  deal  of  help  in  painting,  and  this  rubbish  sug 
gests  fancies  that  the  bare  walls  would  not." 

"  And  you  have  laid  the  wand  upon  these  young  people 
and  got  them  all  at  work — wonderful — most  wonderful  ! 
May  we  look  for  a  chef  (Tceuvre  from  you  in  the  next  salon, 
Edith  ?  What  is  to  be  the  genre  of  your  masterpiece, 
Bella?  "  asked  Philip,  taking  a  chair  and  seating  himself  by 
the  table  of  that  absorbe'd  devotee. 

"  You're  not  to  be  a  tease  here,  sir  ;  we  shall  insist  on 
Mr.  Gray's  forbidding  you  the  atelier  unless  you  promise 
silence  and  respect,"  said  Bella,  continuing  resolutely  with 
her  work. 

"  An  entirely  proper  sentiment,  Miss  Bella,  and  I  promise 
to  carry  it  out,"  said  Trajan.  "  The  skeptical  spirit  has  no 
home  here.  Mr.  Kent  must  leave  his  incredulity  behind 
when  he  enters  here." 

"  Incredulous  !  "  cried  Philip.  "  I'm  any  thing  but  that. 
15 


226  TRAJAN. 

Why,  I  could  almost  believe  in  my  own  power  to  take  in  the 
noble  spirit  of  art  in  such  company." 

A  servant  appeared  at  this  moment  and  announced  that 
madame  proposed  a  reunion  on  the  lawn. 

"  I  suppose  we  must  go,"  said  Edith  ruefully,  "  I  could 
have  spent  the  whole  afternoon  here.  I'm  doing  beautifully, 
am  I  not,  Mr.  Gray  ?  " 

"  It's  too  early  to  commend,  wait  until  you  have  gone 
through  a  few  ordeals,"  said  the  master,  consciously. 

"  When  you  want  commendation  come  to  me,  young 
ladies,"  said  Philip,  humorously.  "  I  will  not  stint  praise — 
there's  no  jealousy  about  me." 

On  the  lawn  all  the  newcomers  were  disposed  in  easy 
attitudes,  some  of  the  gentlemen  in  hammocks,  and  the 
ladies  under  the  foliage  plying  embroidery  needles  and  what 
not.  Trajan  was  presented  to  the  group  and  sat  down 
beside  Kate,  that  paragon  of  all  the  impossible  contradictions 
Elliot  had  sketched  with  free  hand.  Mrs.  Rossitor,  very 
stout  and  very  red  in  the  face,  was  engaging  the  vicomte 
in  a  lurid  narrative  of  the  horrors  her  family  had  suffered 
during  the  "  vile  abolition  war,"  while  the  young  vicomte 
twirled  his  mustaches  and  sneakingly  followed  the  move 
ments  of  Miss  Phcebe,  a  slim  young  girl  with  a  pale,  delicate 
face,  engaged  in  knocking  croquet  balls  with  master  Tom. 
Mrs.  Drayton,  the  relict  of  the  Kentucky  general,  was  not 
present,  Mrs.  Arden  explained,  as  the  drive  from  the  station 
had  fatigued  her.  Edith  proposed  a  game  of  croquet,  and 
to  make  the  sides  complete  Mrs.  Arden  joined  as  partner 
to  master  Tom.  Elliot  declined  to  engage,  declaring  that 
he  would  discuss  politics  with  Mrs.  Rossitor.  Trajan,  pro 
testing  his  awkwardness,  consented  to  take  a  mallet  as 
Edith's  partner.  Miss  McNair  warned  the  vicomte,  her 
partner,  that  she  insisted  on  his  giving  his  whole  mind  to  the 
game,  as  she  would  as  soon  lose  a  tooth  as  a  wicket. 

"  Then  you  may  as  well  order  a  set  of  teeth,  mademoiselle, 
for  I  never  was  known  to  hit  a  ball  or  pass  a  wicket." 


TffEO.  RESUMES  THE  COMEDY.  227 

"  Never  mind,  keep  your  eye  on  me  and  do  as  I  tell  you, 
and  we  shall  beat  them,"  said  the  spinster  determinedly. 
I've  carried  worse  players  than  you  through  before  now," 
she  added  with  reassuring  blandness. 

The  rest  laughed,  for  every  one  knew  that  Kate  McNair 
never  gave  in  defeated  while  brow-beating  was  left  as  a 
resource. 

Victory  declared  for  Master  Tom,  Mrs.  Arden,  Hector 
and  Bella,  though  Kate  protested  that  there  was  scandalous 
cheating.  Trajan,  Edith,  Hector  and  Claridge  dropped 
out  of  the  second  game,  and  Kate  re-established  her 
prowess,  carrying  the  astonished  vicomte  through  a  dozen 
arches  and  crippling  her  antagonist  by  "  canons,"  fixed  shots, 
and  all  manner  of  artifices  known  only  to  the  amateurs  of 
this  fascinating  diversion.  The  grounds  were  ringing  with 
the  well-merited  plaudits  of  the  determined  spinster's 
prowess,  when  an  open  Victoria  drove  up  the  lawn  road. 
Jules  Carnot  was  driving  and  Theo  sat  beside  him.  She  threw 
kisses  to  the  ladies  and  leaped  out  as  the  horse  stopped. 

"  I  told  Jules  we  should  get  the  reputation  olf  a  bad 
penny,"  laughed  Theo  as  Mrs.  Arden  came  forward  to  wel 
come  her.  "  We've  accepted  an  invitation  to  spend  a 
month  with  the  Grovels,  your  neighbors.  I  ran  over  to 
announce  the  news  myself." 

Then,  knowing  every  body,  the  charming  Theo  had  some 
thing  to  say  to  each. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  know  you  are  near  us,"  said  Mrs. 
Arden  heartily,  "  we  had  intended  to  send  you  an  invitation 
to  visit  us  so  soon  as  we  became  more  settled,  and  as  it  is  we 
shall  insist  on  your  giving  us  a  week,  at  least." 

"  Have  you  just  left  Paris  ? "  said  Elliot,  as  Jules,  relin 
quishing  the  reins  to  the  groom,  came  up. 

"  Yes,  we  left  this  morning  at  eight  o'clock." 

"  What  is  the  prospect,  war  or  peace  ?  " 

"  About  even.  The  Prussians  are  forcing  the  Emperor's 
hand,  and  the  rumor  of  the  Hohenzgllern  candidacy  has 


228  TRAJAN. 

driven  the  Bourse  into  a  panic.  If  that  turns  out  to  be  a 
real  move  on  the  chess  board,  the  Emperor  will  be  forced  in 
spite  of  himself  to  declare  war.  Agents  have  been  sent  to 
Austria,  Italy,  Bavaria  and  Wurtemburg,  offering  the  aid 
of  France  in  re-establishing  the  status  of  affairs  before 
Sadowa,  but  no  one  in  Paris  hopes  much  from  these  negotia 
tions.  My  own  opinion  is  that  war  is  inevitable.  The 
eminent  Bonapartists  have  been  making  heavy  transfers  to 
London  and  New  York." 

Herbert  Hector  spoke  in  his  character  of  universal  diplo- 
mate : 

"  I  wrote  to  my  paper  a  week  ago  that  war  was  inevitable, 
and  I  give  the  Germans  three  months  to  get  into  Paris  " 

"  As  prisoners  of  war,  you  mean,"  said  the  Vicomte  de 
Bellechasse,  with  angry  incredulity. 

"  I  wish  I  could  think  so,"  said  the  American  gravely.  "  I 
have  just  come  from  Germany.  The  country  is  one  vast 
camp.  The  ardor  for  war  something  stupefying.  Even 
were  Bismarck  disposed  to  placate  the  Emperor,  the  German 
military  party  would  not  consent.  They  know  to  a  musket 
what  force  the  French  can  put  in  the  field,  and  it  is  the 
common  opinion  in  Berlin  that  their  army  will  be  before 
Paris  within  twenty  days  after  war  is  declared,  and  I  am 
forced  to  say  that  I  think  they  are  right." 

"  Come,  gentlemen,  don't  let  us  have  any  war  here  until  it 
comes.  This  is  the  temple  of  peace,  and  dinner  will  be 
ready  before  we  can  dress.  Disperse  to  your  tents  and  be 
ready  for  the  bell,"  said  Mrs.  Arden,  as  the  ladies  arose  and 
trooped  toward  the  house.  Theo  and  Jules  were  induced 
to  remain  on  condition  that  a  messenger  should  be  sent  to 
the  Grovels  announcing  the  fact.  Trajan,  meanwhile,  had 
wandered  off  in  the  park  to  show  Edith  the  stream  that 
curled  and  bubbled  through  the  slopes  back  of  the  chateau. 
The  small  Tom  set  out  after  them,  but,  absorbed  in  a  but 
terfly  chase,  soon  fell  out  of  sight. 

"  An  artist's  life  must  be  very  delightful,"  said  Edith,  as 


TffEO.  RESUMES  THE  COMEDY.  229 

Trajan  strode  onward  through  familiar  paths,  pointing  out 
the  beauties  of  rock  and  rivulet  hidden  under  masses  of 
clustering  vines  and  trees,  whose  gnarled  roots  testified  an 
ancient  lineage. 

"  Why  delightful  ?  "  asked  Trajan  absently. 

"  Well,  I  should  imagine  that  looking  at  natural  objects 
with  the  purpose  of  seeing  their  beauty  in  relation  to  each 
other,  an  artist's  mind  would  come  to  be  a  reservoir  for  the 
reflection  of  the  beautiful  in  nature  alone." 

"  I'm  afraid  the  artist  would  be  obliged  to  be  young  and 
enthusiastic  as  you,  to  live  in  that  sort  of  an  atmosphere. 
Art  is  like  every  thing  else  that  ministers  to  life,  sometimes 
the  reflex  of  real  beauty  of  soul,  sometimes  the  result  only 
of  industry.  Very  good  paintings  are  produced  by  sordid, 
soulless  beggars,  who  would  revolt  you  in  ten  minutes.  The 
truest  exponents  of  nature  sometimes  remain  unknown  and 
unappreciated  until  their  dying  day,  as  Corot,  for  example, 
who  painted  yonder  in  the  woods  of  Barbison,  unable  to  pay 
for  his  two  meals  a  day  and  fuel." 

"  That  will  not  be  your  reward,  Mr.  Gray,  for  Elliot  says 
you  have  real  genius,  and,"  added  the  little  maiden  impul 
sively,  "he  is  an  excellent  judge.  He  selected  every  object 
of  art  and  all  the  paintings  for  us  in  Paris  and  New  York." 

Then,  bethinking  herself,  she  blushed  in  delicious  con 
fusion,  and  Trajan  suddenly  felt  something  in  his  throat  that 
impeded  speech. 

"  Your  brother  is  a  singularly  well  informed  man  for  his 
years,  but  I  fear  he  could  hardly  force  the  world  to  share 
his  opinions  of  my  powers — at  least  just  yet.  You  know," 
he  added,  "  the  test  of  fine  work  is  not  the  appreciation  of  a 
few.  It  is  the  instant  recognition  of  the  many  that  marks  a 
real  touch  of  nature." 

"But  didn't  you  just  say  yourself,  Mr.  Gray,  that  Corot 
produced  his  best  works  and  for  years  no  one  found  out  how 
good  they  were  ?  " 

"  True,  but  the  quality  of  his  works  gave  them  universal 


230  TRAJAN, 

favor,  so  soon  as  they  became  known.  Then,  too,  Corot  did 
in  painting  what  Keats  and  Coleridge  did  in  poetry  ;  he 
went  back  to  the  primal  truths  of  art,  and  the  world  had 
been  so  long  befogged  with  vanities  and  foolishness  that 
they  did  not  recognize  nature  when  it  was  set  before  them. 
There  has  been  only  one  Corot  in  this  century,  as  there  was 
but  one  Keats  and  one  Coleridge." 

"I  don't  quite  understand  it  all,  I'm  sure,"  said  Edith  re 
flectively.  "  Painting  is  a  great  mystery  to  me,  as  I  fancy  it 
is  to  most  people,  and  perhaps  when  I  have  learned  some  of 
its  practice  and  heard  you  and  Elliot  discuss  it  fully,  I  may 
understand  it  better.  Do  you  know,  I  think  it  is  dinner 
time.  Angels  of  grace  !  "  as  she  looked  at  the  tiny  watch 
at  her  girdle,  "  ten  minutes  to  five — we  shall  be  late,  and  the 
house  full  of  strangers." 

"  You  speak  as  if  some  penance  would  be  put  upon  you. 
I  don't  imagine  your  mother  a  tyrant  to  make  you  tremble," 
said  Trajan  quite  composedly. 

"  It's  not  mamma — but  the  proprieties — which,  of  course, 
being  a  lawless  artist  you  ignore — but  really  we  must 
hasten." 

"  Don't  be  uneasy — I  am  not  unmindful  of  the  proprieties 
and  I  know  a  path  which  will  take  us  to  the  rear  entrance 
of  the  chateau  in  five  minutes,  if  you  don't  mind  my  lifting 
you  across  the  brook,  which  becomes  noisy  and  broad  on 
the  route." 

No,  Edith  did  not  mind,  and  twice  the  light  girlish  figure 
was  lifted  carefully,  with  much  laughing,  and  in  five  minutes 
the  vagrants  were  in  the  hall. 

"I  shall  have  time  to  brush  my  hair  at  all  events,"  said 
Edith  smiling,  and  Trajan  wanted  to  say  that  if  she  were 
wise  she  would  never  touch  those  golden  tresses,  but  let  them 
fall  over  the  clear  temples  in  the  delicious  confusion  of  the 
moment.  He  said  nothing,  however,  but  skipped  lightly  up 
to  his  room.  Elliot  was  just  coming  out : 

"  Hello  !    I  couldn't   imagine  what  had  become  of  you." 


THEO.  RESUMES  THE  COMEDY.  231 

"  Your  sister  and  I  wanted  to  see  the  brook  spring  and  we 
went  off  to  the  hill-side  with  young  Thomas  Rossitor." 

Hardly  waiting  for  Trajan  to  finish,  Elliot  interrupted. 
— "  The  Carnots  came  over  from  the  Grovels  just  before  the 
bell  rang,  and  they  are  going  to  remain  for  dinner." 

"Who  ?  "  said  Trajan  hoarsely,  steadying  himself  by  the 
post  of  the  canopy  where  he  was  in  the  act  of  hanging  his 
coat. 

"  Theo   and  Jules  Carnot  ;  you  have  met  them  ?" 

Trajan  had  turned  from  the  eyes  of  the  other  while  this 
was  spoken,  and  nodded.  Elliot  continued,  "Dinner  is 
announced,  you  will  be  late." 

"  Make  my  excuses  to  your  mother,  please,  and  say  that  I 
have  a  bad  turn  that  will  make  it  impossible  for  me  to  sit  at 
the  table." 

"  Good  Heavens,  Gray  !  what  do  you  mean  ?"  exclaimed 
Elliot,  his  face  suddenly  clouded,  "  are  you  ill  ?  Have 
you  over-fatigued  yourself  ?  You  are  deadly  white.  Lie 
down." 

"  No — no — it's  nothing  serious,  I  assure  you,  and  you  will 
be  doing  me  a  great  kindness  if  you  will  make  my  excuses 
to  your  mother  quietly.  Now  go — I  beg  as  a  favor — so  that 
your  tardiness  may  not  be  remarked." 

"  I'm  sure  I  don't  understand  you  at  all,  Gray." 

"You  will  understand  it  all  later  ;  when  I  see  you  after 
dinner  I  will  explain — go  for  Heaven's  sake." 

Elliot  quit  the  room  uneasy  and  puzzled.  It  never 
occurred  to  him  to  connect  Trajan's  refusal  to  go  down  with 
the  presence  of  the  Carnots.  He  whispered  Trajan's  excuses 
to  his  mother,  who  was  alarmed  for  the  young  man's  health 
and  rang  at  once  for  a  servant  to  attend  him.  When  the 
party  was  seated,  Theo's  observant  eye  remarked  the  serv 
ant  removing  the  empty  chair  and  extra  plate  from  Edith's 
side.  She  said  nothing,  but  she  was  bent  on  penetrating  the 
mystery.  It  was  a  mystery  only  for  a  moment,  and  she  had 
no  occasion  to  call  in  her  fine  powers  to  discover  its  mean- 


232  TRAJAN. 

ing.  "  Where  is  Mr.  Gray  ?  "  asked  Bella  as  Elliot  took  his 
place  at  the  foot  of  the  table  near  her. 

Edith  looked  up  as  Elliot  bent  over  to  his  cousin  and  said 
in  a  low  tone  : 

"  He  is  feeling  unwell,  and  asks  to  be  excused  from 
dinner." 

"  Is  Gray  with  you  ?"  asked  Jules,  further  up  the  table, 
catching  Bella's  question. 

"  Yes,"  said  Elliot.  "  He  is  acquainted  about  here,  and 
is  come  down  to  sketch  for  the  summer." 

Theo's  curiosity  was  satisfied.  She  knew  as  well  as  if  she 
had  been  present,  the  cause  of  Trajan's  illness  and  the 
removal  of  the  superfluous  chair. 

"  Where  has  Mr.  Gray  established  his  studio  ?  "  she  asked 
Bella  politely. 

"  In  the  mansard  of  the  south  wing  of  the  chateau — a 
charming  apartment." 

"Ah!  you  really  must  take  us  up  there  after  dinner," 
says  the  ingenuous  lover  of  the  fine  arts.  "  I  dote  on 
ateliers — one  learns  so  much  of  the  a  b  c  of  art  among  the 
painter's  properties  !  " 

The  dinner  passed  off  with  great  gayety.  Mrs.  General 
Drayton  was  arrayed  in  the  grandeur,  as  she  confided  to  her 
neighbor  the  publicist  Hector,  that  had  been  admired  in 
the  court  receptions,  where  five  kings  were  in  the  room  with 
the  emperor.  Mrs.  General  was  on  the  books  of  time  ven 
turesomely  near  fourscore.  But  in  the  tablets  of  fashion 
she  was  not  more  than  fifty.  Her  wrinkled  cheeks  were  of 
a  gentle  vermilion  hue,  that  did  credit  to  her  French  maid 
Jeannette.  Her  venerable  hair  was  coifed  in  waves 
a  rimpcratrice,  and  her  skinny  old  hands  glistened  with 
innumerable  jewels  of  every  conceivable  color  and  degree 
of  costliness.  Her  figure  was  arrayed  in  a  delicate  mauve 
silk,  subdued  under  undulating  rolls  of  priceless  lace.  Mrs. 
General,  mother  of  a  daughter  of  forty-nine  or  fifty,  was 
the  sprightliest  coquette  in  the  room  and  absolutely  made 


THEO.  RESUMES  THE  COMEDY.  233 

the  thin  figure  and  sparse  locks  of  Kate  McNair  elderly  by 
comparison.  Her  conversation  was  as  juvenile  as  her  make 
up,  and  Mrs.  Arden  was  forced  to  drown  some  of  her  wicked 
prattle  in  a  clatter  of  the  dishes  to  keep  the  venerable 
cynic's  worldliness  from  the  ears  of  her  darlings. 

The  Vicomte  Bellechasse  was  effusively  gallant  to  the 
frisky  octogenarian,  and  as  she  understood  some  of  the 
French  tongue  and  pretended  to  understand  all,  the  young 
man  gave  loose  rein  to  the  charming  habit  of  his  nation  in 
regaling  this  simple  old  flirt  with  the  broadest  gossip  of  the 
clubs  and  the  court.  The  young  men  in  his  vicinity  enjoyed 
the  conversation  immensely,  and  the  Ardens,  who  were 
considerably  removed,  were  mystified  by  the  hilarity,  Every 
one  shared  the  snatches  of  scandal  that  sometimes  reached 
the  whole  table  in  a  lull  of  quieter  talk,  save  Elliot  and  his 
sister.  The  latter  was  very  pensive,  and  her  lack  of  appetite 
so  disturbed  the  watchful  Kate  that  she  asked  her  if  she  was 
ailing.  No,  Edith  said,  quite  as  if  she  were  guilty  of  some 
sinful  deception,  she  was  only  a  trifle  fatigued.  She  had 
been  taking  a  long  walk.  Theo's  parti-colored  eyes  glistened 
agreeably  as  she  asked  in  a  dulcet  tone  : 

"Ah  !  Edith,  have  you  discovered  the  delights  of  Crecy  ? 
The  walks  about  the  chateau  and  the  neighboring  glen  are 
the  joy  of  the  artists.  Mr.  Gray  used  to  have  a  favorite 
haunt  in  the  Ravine  de  Reveche,  as  it  is  called.  You  must 
get  him  to  show  it  to  you." 

Edith,  as  we  have  learned,  was  not  fond  of  her  radiant 
countrywoman,  and  this  haphazard  shot,  which  with  a 
woman's  instinct  the  young  girl  knew  to<fce  malicious,  did 
not  serve  to  lessen  her  antipathy  to  the  conquering  Theo. 

When  the  dinner  was  over  the  ladies  insisted  on  visiting 
the  studio,  and,  as  they  set  out,  Elliot  hastened  to  Trajan's 
room.  A  tray  with  consomme  and  wine  stood  on  his  table 
untasted,  but  the  young  man  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  Elliot 
sat  down  and  waited  a  few  minutes,  impatiently,  then 
bethought  him  that  the  delinquent  had  gone  to  the  studio, 


234  TRAJAN. 

and  he  hastened  eagerly  thither.  Trajan,  so  soon  as  Elliot 
left  him,  had  indeed  gone  to  the  studio.  It  was  a  familiar 
place,  even  though  new,  for  his  treasures  and  easel  made  it 
his  home.  He  sat  down  at  the  window  looking  out  over  the 
trees  where  he  had  just  walked,  the  dim  shape  of  a  new  hope 
vaguely  dawning  upon  his  inward  vision.  He  was  wholly 
unconscious  of  its  significance  or  reality  ;  but  he  felt  as  one 
feels  who  has  been  tempest-tossed,  despairing  of  rescue,  and 
sees  a  far-distant  sail  on  the  horizon.  He  got  up,  and  uncov 
ering  the  sheets  that  lay  on  the  tablets  of  his  easel,  gazed  on 
the  head  he  had  outlined  in  the  morning.  A  light  footstep 
in  the  door  startled  him  ;  looking  up,  Edith,  with  her  lips 
parted  and  eyes  wide  open,  stood  regarding  him,  speechless  ! 

"You  gave  me  such  a  fright!"  she  exclaimed.  "We 
thought  you  were  ill  and  in  your  room,  and  every  body  is 
coming  to  see  the  studio.  I  hope  you  are  feeling  better. 
You  are — are  you  not  ?  " 

"  Oh,  it  was  a  mere  passing  qualm,  and  I  got  over  it 
directly,"  said  Trajan,  fumbling  with  the  drawings,  and  slip 
ping  the  one  he  had  been  contemplating  into  the  middle  of 
the  pile. 

"Mr.  Gray  is  here  to  receive  us  himself,"  said  Edith,  as 
the  party  entered.  "  Miss  Carnot,  you  know  Mr.  Gray,  I 
believe  ?  "  Edith  asked,  as  Theo  came  forward  with  tranquil 
self-possession. 

"  Oh  yes,  Mr.  Gray  and  I  are  very  old  and  very  dear 
friends.  I'm  so  delighted  to  find  you  here,  Mr.  Gray,"  she 
said,  giving  the  young  man  a  hand  as  composedly  as  if  it  had 
never  been  presffed  and  kissed  by  the  man  before  her. 

"Only  wise  people  enjoy  such  simple  delights,  Miss  Car 
not.  It  is  your  favorite  poet,  Mrs.  Browning,  who  preaches 
that  happy  life  means  prudent  compromise  ;  we  are  wiser 
than  that,  and  take  our  delights  in  following  our  own  ways 
and  believing  in  our  own  maxims,"  answered  Trajan,  with 
just  a  vibration  of  trembling  in  the  tone,  which  was  not  lost 
upon  Edith  any  more  than  it  was  upon  Theo. 


THEO.  RESUMES  THE  COMEDY.  235 

At  this  juncture  Elliot  pushed  through  the  group  entering 
the  room  first,  and  seeing  Trajan,  said  : 

"  You  have  given  me  a  pretty  chase.  I  expected  to  find 
you  in  bed,  and  here  you  are,  and  evidently  have  been  at 
work." 

"  You  must  not  be  surprised  at  Mr.  Gray's  freaks,  Mr. 
Arden.  When  he  declines  dining,  you  may  be  sure  he  has 
a  good  reason.  The  goddess  who  chooses  awkward  moments 
for  her  best  hints,  may  seize  upon  the  dinner  hour  as  well  as 
another,  and  when  that  happens  convention  must  give  way 
to  inspiration,"  murmured  Thep,  watching  her  victim  out 
of  the  corner  of  her  eye,  while  ostensibly  studying  the  card 
board  on  the  easel. 

Trajan  bit  his  lip.  Was  there  ever,  he  thought,  a  match  for 
this  wicked,  undaunted  little  schemer?  She  flaunted  before 
him  with  the  same  malign  sprightliness  that  had  captivated 
him  when  they  first  met,  and  seemed  as  unconscious  of  the 
intervening  abyss  of  falsehood  and  dishonor — her  own 
avowals,  as  well  as  what  she  had  not  avowed — as  if  she  were 
as  pure  and  true  as  the  most  unspotted  and  sinless  in  the 
vineyard.  He  had  shrunk  chivalrously  from  meeting  her, 
seeking  to  shield  her  from  the  embarrassment  he  supposed 
she  must  feel.  Though  the  love  he  had  kept  lighted  as  a 
sacred  fire  in  his  heart  had  long  ago  burned  out,  and  the  very 
ashes  of  it  had  been  purified  out  of  him,  he  would  have  fled 
from  Les  Charmettes  rather  than  subject  her  to  the  humilia 
tion  of  appearing  before  him.  But  he  knew  that  her  coming 
was  a  bravado,  and  her  effrontery  absolved  him  from  all  fur 
ther  obligation.  He  would  show  her  that  even  her  tough 
conscience  could  be  touched,  and  that  she  should  not  escape 
scathless,  if  the  irony  she  dealt  to  others  had  any  power  of 
penetrating  her  own  callous  heart.  I  am  humiliated  to  own 
that  Theo,  the  penetrating,  the  sagacious,  the  Machiavellian, 
had  amazingly  miscalculated  in  this  intrepid  maneuver.  She 
had  no  sooner  heard  of  Trajan's  presence  in  the  chateau  on 
the  removal  of  the  plate,  than  she  made  up  her  mind  that 


236  TRAJAN, 

fear  of  her  prowess  had  kept  her  former  lover  in  his  room, 
and  she  resolved  to  appear  before  him  and  re-subjugate  him  as 
she  had  conquered  others.  Her  career  had  been  one  of 
such  unbroken  conquest  that,  like  Napoleon  before  Leipsic, 
she  would  be  content  with  nothing  but  the  status  quo  ante  bel- 
/um,  and  like  the  imperial  warrior  after  the  disastrous  repulse 
at  Leipsic  she  did  not  give  in  defeated.  She  was  more  than 
ever  bent  upon  resuming  her  sway  over  the  infatuated  adver 
sary  who  foolishly  imagined  he  could  escape  her  yoke. 

"  Miss  Briscoe,  you  must  get  Mr.  Gray  to  paint  your  por 
trait.  What  couldn't  his  clever  pencil  do  with  such  a  head 
as  yours,  when  he  made  mine  the  wonder  of  Paris  for  a  whole 
season.  You  must  really  come  to  the  Rue  Galilee  to  see  it. 
The  best  judges  in  Paris  pronounce  it  a  chef  cTxuvre" 

"  Perhaps,  Theo,  "  suggested  Jules,  "  it  was  the  necessity 
of  eking  out  fact  by  imagination  that  gave  Gray  an  advan 
tage  in  painting  you.  In  the  case  of  Miss  Briscoe  it  would 
be  just  the  other  way  ;  the  fact  surpassing  imagination  might 
result  in  a  poor  picture." 

"  It's  often  from  the  hand  of  a  friend  that  we  receive  the 
severest  blows,  Miss  Carnot,"  said  Trajan,  disingenuously, 
"and  the  nearer  the  friend  the  more  vital  the  blow,  though 
I  know  none  of  us  will  subscribe  to  your  brother's  ungallant 
version  of  the  story." 

"  Brothers  and  husbands  are  licensed  revilers  of  women, 
and  as  for  Jules,  he  is  prone  to  believe  other  people's  sisters 
more  perfect  than  his  own,"  laughed  Theo,  tacitly  admit 
ting  defeat,  which,  as  she  was  unaccustomed  to  it,  did  not 
sit  well  upon  her  charming  face  or  go  well  with  her  winning 
manner. 

Mrs.  Arden  reminded  the  company  that  the  horses  were 
waiting  and  the  sunlight  waning.  Trajan  had  forgotten  all 
about  his  illness  and  was  ready  with  the  rest  when  the  caval 
cade  set  out.  It  was  an  imposing  train,  as  they  cantered 
through  the  leafy  park  in  irregular  groups,  Mrs.  Arden  with 
the  elder  ladies  in  a  landau,  and  the  younger  people  in  the 


THE  0.  RESUMES' THE  COMEDY.  237 

saddle.  The  vicomte  gallantly  lingered  with  the  octo 
genarian,  as  she  held  her  voluminous  train  on  the  porch, 
declining  to  go  out  and  risk  the  dew.  Elliot  succeeded  in 
prevailing  upon  Theo  to  join  the  train.  Jules  was  dismissed 
with  the  victoria,  and  she  rode  off  in  high  spirits.  She  sat 
well,  as  she  did  every  thing,  and  never  was  gayer  or  more 
seductive.  Bella,  riding  with  Hector,  did  not  seem  lost  in 
the  vivacious  comments  of  that  self-satisfied  publicist.  She 
had  perpetual  difficulty  with  her  stirrups,  and  finally  dis 
mounted  to  readjust  them.  Singularly  enough,  it  was  just 
as  Elliot  and  Theo  rode  up,  talking  in  almost  confidential 
tones,  that  the  obstinate  straps  were  adjusted  to  the  young 
lady's  liking.  Thereafter  she  made  a  pretext  of  admiring 
scenic  bits  in  detail  to  keep  the  horses  in  a  walk,  and  thus, 
by  a  singular  chance,  just  behind  her  cousin  and  his  vis-a- 
vis.  The  complacent  prattle  of  the  publicist,  as  he  recounted 
his  exploits  in  the  wars,  to  his  no  small  chagrin,  elicited  but 
fragmentary  responses  from  the  abstracted  Bella,  who  was 
wont  to  lead  conversation  in  whatever  company  she  found 
herself.  Trajan,  riding  with  Miss  Phoebe,  was  far  in  advance. 
As  the  twilight  deepened,  Hector  not  being  familiar  with  the 
road,  Bella  suggested  returning,  and  the  two  turned  back, 
Hector  relapsing  into  silence,  smitten  with  a  sudden  con 
sciousness  that  his  companion  was  not  properly  appreciative 
of  his  distinction  as  the  only  Boston  journalist  maintained 
in  the  capital  of  civilization  to  paint  the  manners  and  moral 
ize  on  the  virtues  and  vices  of  the  French  people.  They 
had  ridden  but  a  short  distance  when  they  overtook  the  car 
riage,  where  Mrs.  Rossitor  was  expatiating  on  the  wickedness 
of  French  society,  and  explaining  how  she  watched  over 
those  spotless  cherubs,  "  my  Phoebe  and  my  Tommy."  The 
horses  walking  behind  the  carriage,  Bella  listened  to  the 
fond  mother,  and  shook  with  laughter  as  Kate  McNair  inter 
polated  an  occasional  sarcasm,  of  which  the  honest  matron 
was  cheerfully  unconscious. 

"  Which  of  the  wanderers  is  that  behind  ?  "  calls  out  Mrs. 


238  TRAJAN. 

Arden,  forced  to  make  a  diversion  to  save  herself  from  an 
unseemly  disturbance  of  this  maternal  complacency. 

"It  is  Mr.  Hector  and  I,  Aunt  Cordelia,"  replies  Bella 
demurely.  "  My  stirrup  plagued  me,  and  as  I  didn't  know 
the  roads  well  I  thought  it  prudent  to  return,  and  have 
deprived  poor  Mr.  Hector  of  the  pleasure  of  the  night 
ride." 

Mr.  Hector  protested  that  he  was  enchanted  to  return. 
Would  Miss  Briscoe  join  him  in  a  game  of  chess  ? 

"  Why  not  be  more  sociable  and  make  it  cards  ?  "  says  the 
plain  spoken  Kate,  not  relishing  the  nature  of  the  continued 
story  of  the  young  Rossitors. 

They  found  the  octogenarian  deep  in  casino,  with  the 
maid,  on  entering  the  salon,  and  were  rewarded  with  fervent 
ejaculations  of  welcome  by  that  venerable  gamester,  who 
immediately  proposed  whist,  the  party  being  made  up  greatly 
to  Bella's  satisfaction  without  her,  Mrs.  Briscoe  and  Kate 
joining  against  the  journalist  and  the  veteran. 

"  Aunty,  I'm  provoked  with  you  for  inviting  Miss  Carnot 
to  visit  here,  you  know  there  are  strange  things  said  of  her," 
said  Bella  as  the  two  sat  on  the  porch. 

"  Why,  my  child,  you  surprise  me.  I  never  knew  such  a 
general  favorite,  and  I'm  sure  I  have  heard  you  say  that  she 
had  more  brains  than  all  the  girls  you  knew." 

"  She  has  too  much,  Aunty." 

"  And  as  for  the  things  said  of  her,  I'm  surprised  that  a 
girl  of  your  good  sense  should  think  of  them  a  second  time. 
If  the  saint  of  Sienna  were  in  society  there  would  be  idle 
and  malicious  things  said  of  her.  Don't,  I  beg  you,  fall  into 
that  pitfall  of  the  vulgar.  The  wise  woman  in  this  world  is 
she  who  never  knows  that  there  is  any  thing  evil  said  of  an 
other,  for  it  is  an  admission  to  even  know  when  evil  is  said. 
It  is  the  belief  in  evil,  without  evidence,  that  defiles.  Pray, 
my  child,  never  know  there  is  any  thing  else  to  do  than  right 
and  you'll  never  hear  evil,  because  people  who  hint  it  will 
be  talking  to  you  in  an  unknown  tongue." 


THEO.  RESUMES  THE  COMEDY.  239 

Bella  was  not  entirely  persuaded  by  this  nihilistic  doctrine, 
for  that  young  lady  was  convinced  of  Theo's  irredeemable 
hopelessness.  Perhaps  she  would  have  had  some  difficulty  in 
defining  the  overt  sins  committed.  Indeed,  I  am  sure  that 
the  stake  would  not  have  drawn  from  her  the  special  atrocity 
that  had  set  her  in  such  a  state  of  mind  against  the  female 
offender.  It  sometimes  happens  that  a  fair  dame,  resents 
the  fine  effect  a  cast  off  gown  or  some  idle  bit  of  frippery 
gives  a  favorite  maid,  and  I  have  known  feminine  minds 
of  the  most  admirable  equilibrium,  quite  upset  by  the  mar 
riage  of  a  despised  rival  with  a  disdainfully  rejected  lover.  It 
requires  uncommon  magnanimity  to  give  in  this  world — 
unless  the  thing  given  is  of  no  sort  of  use  to  us,  and  then  it 
must  be  really  given,  not  clutched  from  a  reluctant  grasp. 

But  of  course  Bella's  aunt  was  unconscious  of  the  thoughts 
passing  in  that  young  lady's  mind.  Indeed  Bella  could  not 
have  given  any  very  clear  notion  of  them  herself — or  rather 
she  would  not  have  done  so  even  to  herself.  Jealous  of  her 
cousin — faugh  !  what  was  her  cousin  to  her.  Had  he  not 
been  her  adorer  these  two  years  ?  Couldn't  she  have  made 
of  him  what  she  would  ?  But  she  didn't  want  to  make  any 
thing  of  him.  He  was  an  agreeable — yes,  an  able  young 
man,  not  nearly  so  clever  as  Mr.  Gray,  nor  so  diverting  as 
cousin  Philip.  Hadn't  she  dreaded  his  tender  outbreaks  and 
purposely  held  him  at  arms'  length,  chattering  literature  and 
inane  philosophy  ?  What  was  it  to  her  that  his  eye  lighted 
with  animation  at  the  crocodile  cleverness  of  that  designing 
little  marplot  Theo  ?  The  two  ladies  sat  silently  under  the 
deep  shadows  of  the  glass  awning,  watching  the  gleams  of 
light  as  they  traveled  over  the  dark  masses  of  foliage.  The 
night  was  full  of  the  beauty  of  repose  ;  the  air  heavy  with 
fragrance.  The  concerts  of  the  night  birds  contrasted  with 
the  quiet  of  the  chateau.  The  ladies  watching  the  shadows, 
saw,  before  they  heard,  a  horseman  flying  toward  the  porch. 
Mrs.  Arden  rose  with  a  sharp  exclamation  of  fright  ;  Bella 
sat  "quite  still  and  clenched  the  slender  arm  of  the  chair.  The 


240  TRAJAN. 

horseman  leaping  to  the  ground  flung  the  bridle  on  the 
horse's  neck,  and  as  he  distinguished  the  ladies,  he  faltered  : 
"  Madame  Arden,  there  has  been  a  slight  accident — Made 
moiselle  Carnot  has  been  thrown  from  her  horse,  and  it  is 
feared  her  arm  is  broken."  It  was  the  vicomte  who  spoke. 
He  added,  "  Your  son  directed  me  to  ride  forward  and  tell 
you,  and  to  have  a  chamber  prepared  for  the  young  lady." 
"  Is  my  son — "  Mrs.  Arden  choked — "  is  my  son  unhurt  ?  " 
"  Oh,  quite  unhurt.  It  was  he  who  caught  the  horse  and 
is  conveying  the  wounded  lady." 

Bella  alone  heard  the  fervent  sigh  that  seemed  thanksgiv 
ing  as  well  as  relief.  Mrs.  Arden  went  off  at  once  to  pre 
pare  for  the  invalid. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE    WOLF    IN    THE    FOLD. 

BELLA  asked  the  vicomte  how  the  accident  had  hap 
pened,  but  he  did  not  know  very  clearly.  The  couple 
had  been  riding  slowly  behind  the  rest  of  the  party  and  lost 
the  way.  The  first  the  rest  knew  of  any  thing  amiss  was  the 
horse  of  Miss  Carnot  dashing  along  the  road  riderless.  Mr. 
Gray  and  Mr.  Kent  had  ridden  back,  and  when  the  vicomte 
came  up  Miss  Carnot  was  still  in  a  swoon.  The  accident 
had  happened  about  four  miles  from  the  chateau  and  it 
would  be  an  hour  or  more  before  the  party  could  arrive.  It 
was  ten  o'clock  when  the  cavalcade  appeared.  Theo,  still 
unconscious  and  moaning,  was  lifted  from  Elliot's  arms  by 
her  brother,  who  had  been  sent  for,  and  carried  into  the 
house — Elliot  accompanying  her  to  the  door  of  her  room. 
He  was  frightfully  pale  and  as  the  figure  of  Theo  disappeared 
he  staggered  and  fell.  His  mother  had  gone  into  the  room 
with  Theo,  but  hearing  the  fall  came  out  with  a  stifled  cry. 
"Ah,  my  son — my  son — you  are  hurt.  My  God  !"  she 


THE   WOLF  IN  THE  FOLD.  241 

groaned,  "  he  is  dead.  Hush,"  she  cried,  as  Edith  flung  her 
self  at  her  brother's  side  sobbing  convulsively.  "  He  has 
fainted,  go  and  call  some  of  the  gentlemen  to  help  him  to  his 
room."  Trajan  was  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs  and  Edith  cried 
out  to  him  : 

"  Ah,  Mr.  Gray,  Elliot  is  dreadfully  hurt  !  come  and 
help  us."  Almost  in  a  bound  Trajan  was  at  Elliot's  side.  His 
mother  had  torn  off  his  coat,  and  opened  his  shirt ;  an  ugly 
bruise  on  the  right  side  showed  that  he  had  been  injured 
either  by  the  hoofs  of  the  horse,  or  by  falling  upon  some 
sharp  object.  Trajan,  lifting  the  inanimate  form,  carried  it 
to  Mrs.  Arden's  room.  The  doctor  who  had  been  sent  for 
was  engaged  with  Theo,  and  for  the  moment  the  young  man's 
care  was  in  Trajan's  hands.  He  had  seen  enough  of  abra 
sions  to  know  exactly  how  to  treat  this,  and  under  his  direc 
tions,  calmly  given,  Elliot  was  soon  restored  to  conscious 
ness.  It  was  from  the  severe  ordeal  after  the  hurt,  rather 
than  the  hurt  itself,  that  he  succumbed  on  arriving.  The 
doctor  coming  presently  reported  Theo.'s  arm  badly  twisted, 
but  no  bones  broken.  His  examination  of  Elliot  showed 
that  the  fourth  rib  was  crushed  but  not  broken.  Beyond  a 
temporary  confinement  nothing  serious  was  apprehended. 
Elliot  regaining  his  composure  asked  for  Theo.  Informed 
that  she  was  not  seriously  hurt,  he  put  his  left  arm  out,  drew 
his  sister  to  him,  and  began  to  whisper  in  her  ear  as  he  was 
fond  of  doing  as  a  child.  Edith's  eyes  were  red  and  swollen 
and  she  sobbed  anew  as  the  foolish  fellow  revived  the  tender 
memory  of  other  days.  Mrs.  Arden  sat  beside  the  bed,  com 
posed  enough  now  that  She  knew  the  worst. 

"  That  was  a  brute  of  a  horse,  Gray,  he  might  have  been 
one  of  Grovel's  Mexicans.  In  his  antics  he  planted  both 
heels  in  my  side  as  I  ran  down  the  gulch  to  seize  him  ;  luckily 
his  fore  feet  slipped,  or  I  should  have  been  done  for.  I 
never  saw  such  a  fearless  creature  as  that  girl.  By  George  ! 
she  never  winced  nor  screamed.  The  brute  rolled  on  her 
arm  after  he  fell,  and  she  got  up  as  coolly  as  though  in  a 
16 


242  TRAJAN. 

drawing-room.  It  was  not  until  the  pain  overcame  her  that 
she  gave  in  and  fainted." 

The  doctor  ordered  quiet  for  the  patient  and  refused  to 
permit  more  than  one  person  in  the  room. 

"I  will  bring  my  books  down  and  sit  here,  Mrs.  Arden," 
said  Trajan  ;  "you  need  all  your  strength  for  to-morrow." 

Mrs.  Arden  shook  her  head  decisively  :  "  No,  I  must  be 
at  my  son's  side." 

But  the  doctor  intervened.  On  no  account  could  madam e 
remain  there.  It  would  needlessly  agitate  the  invalid,  who 
would  presently  fall  into  a  sound  sleep,  thanks  to  the  med 
icine  he  had  given  him. 

"  Furthermore,  madame  has  another  invalid  to  attend." 

Thus  recalled  to  her  duty,  Mrs.  Arden  agreed  that  Philip 
and  Trajan  should  take  turns  in  watching  Elliot  at  night,  as 
Philip  almost  resented  the  suggestion  of  a  stranger  usurping 
his  place  near  his  kinsman.  It  was  far  into  the  morning 
before  ElHot  awoke,  and  it  was  Trajan's  anxious  eyes  he 
looked  into. 

"  How  is  Miss  Carnot  ? "  was  his  first  impulsive  inquiry. 

Trajan  had  not  thought  to  ask,  but  answered  at  a 
venture  that  she  was  doing  well  the  last  he  had  heard — 
which  was  true,  for  the  last  he  had  heard  was  the  doctor's 
message  delivered  in  Elliot's  presence.  He  was  relieved  of 
embarrassment  by  the  entrance  of  Edith,  who  came  to  say 
that  Theo  had  breakfasted  and  inquired  for  Elliot,  not 
knowing  that  he  had  been  hurt.  Elliot  listened  eagerly  and 
asked  a  dozen  questions  about  the  heroine,  whether  her 
arm  would  be  disfigured  ;  whether  every  thing  was 
done  for  her  that  could  be  done  ?  He  was  gratified  to 
hear  that  Bella  had  sat  in  her  room  and  watched  over 
her,  and  declared  that  she  was  a  trump.  Edith  strove  to 
divert  the  subject  from  Theo,  but  not  until  he  had  ex 
hausted  it  did  the  invalid  answer  a  question  or  refer  to  any 
thing  else. 

The    doctor    came    in    and    examined  the  bruises  ngain, 


THE   WOLF  IN  THE  FOLD.  243 

expressed  great  satisfaction  with  their  condition,  and  prom 
ised  the  young  man's  recovery  within  a  fortnight  if  he 
kept  perfectly  quiet  and  gave  himself  no  agitation.  Mrs. 
Arden  came  in  while  this  was  delivered.  She  looked  anx 
ious,  however,  and  showed  that  the  tears  were  ready  to  come 
upon  the  smallest  pretext  ;  but  at  the  breakfast  table  she 
appeared  serene,  and,  on  a  hint  from  one  of  the  company 
that  a  sick-house  was  not  the  place  for  strangers,  begged 
that  no  one  would  think  of  curtailing  the  duration  of  his  or 
her  visit. 

"  We  shall  look  to  you,  Philip,  to  maintain  the  gayety  of 
the  house,  and  see  that  our  friends  are  not  made  gloomy  by 
the  mishap." 

In  spite  of  the  kind  lady's  cheerful  attempt,  the  gathering 
was  in  marked  contrast  with  the  full  table  of  the  evening 
before.  With  Elliot,  Edith,  Bella,  and  Trajan  gone,  the 
conversation  flagged,  in  spite  of  the  vigorous  efforts  of 
Philip  and  Mrs.  Briscoe.  The  young  Englishman,  Claridge, 
was  reminded  by  the  accident  of  similar  episodes  in  his 
numerous  visits  to  the  demesnes  of  the  British  aristocracy, 
where,  it  might  be  inferred  from  his  artless  confidences,  he 
was  only  less  sought  than  the  Prince  of  Wales  himself.  "His. 
bouting  with  the  aristocracy  at  once  gave  him  high  standing 
with  Mrs.  Rossitor.  She  adored  the  British  peerage.  She 
could  tell  the  relationship  of  every  personage  in  that  hie 
rarchy  down  to  the  remotest  consanguinal  kith.  The  pre 
cious  volume  preserving  these  sacred  memoranda  never  left 
her  intimate  baggage.  Her  severest  affliction,  in  a  well- 
ordered  life,  was  the  angelic  Phoebe's  hoydenish  indifference 
to  these  awesome  genealogies.  It  was  a  severe  trial  to  her 
that  in  spite  of  constant  teaching  Phoebe  referred  to  the 
noble  Britons,  with  whose  acquaintance  fortune  had  blessed 
the  Rossitors,  as  "  poky  old  shrumps,  who  treated  Ameri 
cans  like  ruff-scuff  and  only  tolerated  them  when  they  gave 
fine  dinners.  Who" — the  exasperating  young  woman  would 
scornfully  ask — "ever  knew  a  British  noble  able  to  pay  his 


244  TRAJAN. 

hotel  bill  ?  who  ever  saw  one  of  them  that  wasn't  skulking 
to  economize  or  avoid  creditors  ?  who  ever  saw  one  that 
didn't  tolerate  all  other  races  as  a  sort  of  ministering  domes 
ticity  to  his,  the  Briton's,  needs  ?  The  men  were  all  over 
grown,  red-faced  and  redolent  of  brandy,  the  women  un 
gainly  dowdies,  sneering  at  graces  they  could  not  possess." 

Sentiments  like  these  froze  the  genial  current  of  Mrs. 
Rossitor's  soul,  and  she  avoided  expression  of  opinions 
that  were  likely  to  lead  Phcebe  into  the  utterance  of  them. 
But  Claridge's  congenial  confidences  threw  her  off  her 
guard.  She  was  aroused  to  reminiscences  of  the  great  per 
sonages  she  had  met  and  entertained  in  Dresden  and  other 
German  capitals,  where  the  British  aristocracy  are  to  be 
found  in  great  numbers.  Her  list  of  lords  and  ladies  was 
long  and  dazzling.  It  was  remarked  that  the  small  Tom 
took  on  an  exceedingly  knowing  look  as  mamma  dwelt  fondly 
on  the  imposing  memories.  Phcebe  interlined  sotto  voce 
comments  to  her  neighbor,  the  Vicomte,  which  threw 
that  light-hearted  young  nobleman  into  convulsions  of  mer 
riment. 

Jules  made  his  appearance  after  breakfast  with  Mrs. 
Grovel,  her  son,  and  daughter.  Mrs.  Arden  was  not  equal 
to  the  ordeal  of  receiving  them,  and  the  placable  Mrs.  Bris- 
coe  welcomed  the  bizarre  group. 

"  Gracious,  what  a  misfortune  !  "  cried  Mrs.  Grovel,  vio 
lently  fanning  her  red  cheeks  and  ample  person.  "  And 
then  we  had  set  a  week  from  Thursday  for  a  garden  party 
and  ball,  and  all  of  Lafe's  Court  friends  were  to  be  at  it. 
Bad  luck  always  follows  me,"  she  sighed, — then  added,  as  if 
she  had  just  thought  of  it  :  "  Can't  we  go  to  Theo  ?  she 
must  be  dying  to  see  her  friends." 

Mrs.  Briscoe  rose  and  led  the  way,  the  stout  lady  puffing 
out  comments  on  the  furniture  and  apartments  as  she  sailed 
majestically  behind. 

"  I  declare  this  shato  is  nicer  than  ours,  and  we  pay  a 
fortune  for  it,  just  for  the  season.  Them  French  nobles 


THE  WOLF  IN  THE  FOLD.  245 

would  rob  a  red  Indian  of  his  beads — the  selfish  wretches — 
I  can't  put  up  with  them  nohow — I  shall  be  mighty  glad 
when  we  get  back  to  Napoleonville,  where  we  do  have  some 
comforts  without  wearing  our  souls  out.  I  guess  your  sister 
and  you  are  glad  you  ain't  got  no  small  children  to  traipse 
around  the  world  to  get  schooling  and  things.  For  my  part, 
I  think  the  Hanks  High  School  at  Helena  good  enough  to 
edicate  any  person,  no  matter  what  their  station.  My 
brother,  the  Guv'nor,  was  taught  there,  and  every  body 
knows  he's  the  biggest  statesman  in  the  States." 

At  this  juncture  the  statesman's  sister  came  to  the  bed 
side  where  Theo  was  propped  up  on  the  pillows,  looking 
any  thing  but  an  invalid. 

"  Well,  I  vow !  you're  a  nice  girl,  ain't  you  ?  What  in 
torment  did  you  go  off  galivanting  on  them  strange  horses 
for,  when  Lafe's  always  knows  you  and  acts  docile  and 
proper  ?  We  were  frightened  to  death,  and  the  girls  wanted 
to  come  over,  but  Jules  wouldn't  hear  of  it.  I  hope  you 
are  well  nursed — you  must  come  home  with  us  right  away — 
just  as  soon  as  ever  you  are  able  to  put  your  foot  on  the 
floor." 

She  had  kissed  the  laughing  invalid  while  delivering  this 
apostrophe,  and  nodded  benignantly  to  Bella,  who  arose  and 
withdrew  when  the  portentous  figure  entered.  Mrs.  Briscoe, 
finding  Theo  in  need  of  nothing,  left  the  friends  together. 

"  Mighty  pretty  girl,  that  Bella— I  told  Lafe  he  ought  to 
shine  up  for  her — and  let  them  smirking  duchesses  and  mar 
quises  go  about  their  business.  It's  my  opinion  that  all  they 
want  of  him  is  his  money.  Bella  don't  need  that — she  has 
several  millions  in  her  own  right.  Her  pa  left  her  a  half 
interest  in  the  Ivanhoe,  and  Grovel  says  it's,  paying  bricks 
of  silver." 

"I'm  afraid  Lafayette  is  late  in  the  field  for  Bella,"  said 
Theo,  keeping  an  eye  on  the  door  and  speaking  in  a  low 
tone.  "  I  understand  she's  engaged  already." 

"  I  wouldn't  be  afraid  to  risk  Lafe's  chances  with  any  girl, 


246  TRAJAN. 

so  long  as  the  knot  isn't  tied,"  said  the  fond  mother  with  a 
complacent  toss  of  the  head.  "  Lafe  '11  be  the  richest  man 
in  Montana  in  five  years.  He  '11  be  president  of  the  States 
if  he  wants  to  be,  and  I'd  like  to  see  the  girl  could  snicker 
at  them  prospects  !  You're  not  sweet  on  young  Arden  ? " 
she  asked  suddenly  and  apropos  of  nothing  that  had  gone 
before,  searching  the  invalid's  face  with  frank  scrutiny. 

"  Dear  me,  no  !  It  would  be  no  use  :  he's  spoken  some 
where  else,"  says  Theo,  modestly  casting  down  her  green 
eyes. 

"  Do  tell  !  well,  how  these  young  people  do  tangle  them 
selves  up.  He's  a  good  catch.  Grovel  tells  me  the  Ardens 
control  more  capital  than  all  the  banks  of  California,  and 
there's  but  two  children — the  brother  and  sister." 

"  Yes,  I've  heard  that  they  are  very  rich,"  said  Theo 
yawning. 

"  Is  the  young  man  as  well  favored  as  my  Lafe  ?  I'm 
told  he's  very  good  looking." 

'  Well,  that's  a  question  of  taste,"  said  Theo  diplomat 
ically.  "  Lafayette  is  certainly  larger  and  would  be  more 
observed  in  a  company  than  Mr.  Arden." 

"  Well,  I'm  set  on  making  Lafe  marry  an  American,  after 
Amanda's  disgusting  trick.  There's 'no  trusting  these  nasty 
French,  and  as  for  an  English  woman,  I'd  as  soon  have  a 
fan-tailed  pigeon  for  a  daughter-in-law.  It  riles  me  just  to 
see  them  porridge-faced,  skim-milk  creatures  with  their  airs 
and  affectations." 

"  Lafayette  is  lucky  in  having  such  a  guardian  as  his 
mother,"  insinuated  Theo  soothingly. 

"  Indeed  I  should  think  so.  I  often  tell  Grovel  that  if  it 
wasn't  for  me,  the  children  would  grow  up  as  wild  as  ruta 
bagas  and  amount  to  dry  shucks,  for  all  the  advantages  our 
money  gives  us  in  the  world.  I  declare  I  think  I  was  hap 
pier  when  we  were  roughing  it  in  Yahoo  Gulch  and  I  stood 
over  the  washtub  all  the  morning  and  cooked  for  forty 
men  in  the  mines.  We  had  gay  and  hearty  times  then,  I 


THE   WOLF  IN  THE  FOLD.  247 

tell  you,"  and  the  matron  sighed  and  surveyed  her  fat  hand 
encased  in  a  six-button  kid,  wrinkled  and  creased  like  a  layer 
of  very  brown  cream  on  a  surface  of  very  red  milk.  "  D'ye 
think  you'll  be  up  to  the  ball  and  fete — what  do  you  call  it, 
I  can  never  get  them  nasty  French  names  on  the  end  of  my 
tongue  as  Lafe  and  the  girls  do  ? " 

"  Fete  champetre"  amended  Theo.  "  Yes,  I  shall  be  able 
to  take  my  part,  don't  fear.  I  wouldn't  miss  such  an  event 
as  that  for  a  good  deal,  and  I'll  give  you  the  list  of  my 
guests  as  I  promised  you  this  very  day." 

"  Do — Lafe's  going  to  have  all  his  dukes  and  duchesses 
and  no  end  of  court  people.  The  music's  all  bespoke  and 
some  of  the  big  guns  of  the  opera  are  coming  down.  I 
don't  see  where  we're  going  to  stick  all  the  folks.  I  wonder 
if  the  Ardens  wouldn't  take  some  of  them  in — they've  got 
room  enough  here  for  a  whole  camp — suppose  you  ask 
them — you  know  them  better  than  I  do  ! 

"Oh  pray,  dear  Mrs.  Grovel,  don't  dream  of  suggesting 
such  a  thing  !  The  Ardens  are  the  most  punctilious  people 
in  the  world,  and  though  they  would  consent  to  receive  your 
company  they  would  cut  you  dead  ever  after.  No — that's 
not  to  be  dreamed  of,"  cried  Theo  eagerly,  terrified  at  the 
very  possibility  of  such  a  faux  pas. 

"  I'm  sure  I  see  nothing  wrong  in  it,"  declared  the  honest 
dowager.  "  The  folks  are  to  be  the  biggest  guns  in  Paris — 
the  ministers  and  all  them  great  folks  you  read  of  at  Eu 
genie's  swarreys.  I  can't  understand  the  thin-skinnedness 
of  some  folks.  We  would  do  the  same  thing  in  a  minute, 
and  think  it  only  neighborly." 

Theo  was  unspeakably  relieved  when  a  servant  appeared 
and  announced  that  mademoiselle's  brother  asked  permis 
sion  to  enter.  Jules  came  in,  saying:—"  Theo,  Lafayette 
sends  you  these  roses  and  asks  to  be  received." 

"Ah,  that  would  never  do,"  began  Theo. 

"Well,  I'm  sure — why  not  ?"  broke  out  the  astonished 
dame  of  Yahoo  Gulch.  "  If  Lafe  can't  come  into  the 


248  TRAJAN. 

room  to  see  a  sick  friend,  with  his  mother  and  sister  by,  I'd 
like  to  know  why — these  finicky  furrin  notions  are  enough  to 
drive  one  crazy." 

"  It  would  never  do  here,"  said  Theo  appealingly.  "  The 
Ardens  are  very  strict  in  the  observances  of  the  conven 
tions  ;  why,  last  night  when  I  was  carried  here  in  a  faint 
Mr.  Elliot  in  all  the  agitation  of  the  moment  wouldn't  cross 
this  threshold,  but  handed  me  over  like  a  bundle  to  his  aunt 
and  the  servants." 

"  Well,  I  hope  the  time  '11  never  come  that  the  roof  of  my 
mouth  '11  get  so  cold  that  butter  won't  melt  on  my  tongue," 
ejaculated  the  astonished  matron. 

Theo  entrusted  a  tender  message  to  the  honest  Lafayette, 
assuring  him  of  her  lively  gratitude  and  a  promise  to  be 
with  him  in  a  day  or  two,  if  he  had  no  better  company. 

"  Shall  I  send  one  of  the  girls  over  to  cheer  you  up, 
Theo  ? "  asked  Mrs.  Grovel  as  she  kissed  the  invalid  good- 
by.  Assured  that  the  kind  proffer  was  not  needed,  she 
waddled  out,  stopping  to  examine  and  feel  the  draperies  as 
she  went. 

"  What  extraordinary  people  these  Grovels  are  !  "  said 
Theo,  laughing,  as  Jules  took  the  vacant  seat.  "  I'm  afraid 
we  shall  be  compromised,  being  so  much  with  them." 

"  There's  doesn't  seem  to  be  much  danger  of  that.  You 
are  fixed  in  this  house  for  the  present,  and  you  can  manage 
to  finish  your  visit  here  if  you  care  to.  I  shall  go  back  to 
Paris  next  week." 

"Close  the  door,  Jules,"  said  Theo,  adjusting  the  pillows 
and  turning  so  that  she  could  watch  the  young  man's  face. 
"  Have  you  thought  over  what  I  suggested  to  you  ? "  she  re 
sumed  as  the  young  man  reseated  himself — "  the  grands 
partis  in  this  family.  Either  Edith  or  Bella  will  make  a 
prince  of  the  man  that  marries  her  ?  " 

"  True  enough,  you  restless  intriguer — but  every  man 
can't  have  them  for  the  making  of  fine  eyes." 

"  But  any  man  can  have  any  woman,  if  he  sets  his  head, 
as  well  as  his  heart,  to  the  work." 


THE   WOLF  IN  THE  FOLD.  249 

"  All  men — no  man,  that  I  know,  has  such  a  head  as  you, 
Jacky.  If  I  had  your  head  I  would  guarantee  to  marry  any 
woman  in  the  world,  barring  the  impediment  of  a  previous 
marriage  contract  !  Besides,  Jack,  I'm  the  poorest  sort  of 
an  intriguer.  Not  for  conscience'  sake,"  he  added  laughing 
lightly,  "  but  through  pure  indolence.  I  ought  to  be  rich. 
God — when  I  see  such  dolts  as  Arden,  Grovel,  and  scores 
more  with  wealth  pouring  in  on  them,  sleeping  or  waking,  I 
want  to  blow  my  brains  out.  I  ought  to  be  rich.  Life  is 
valueless  without  money.  I  am  just  the  man  to  use  it  mag 
nificently — but  how  to  get  it.  By  heaven,  Jack,  I  sometimes 
dream  of  turning  highwayman  or  bandit,  or  any  thing  that 
will  give  me  a  great  stake  at  one  stroke  ;  but  it  is  all  a 
dream—  for  I  wouldn't  for  the  vaults  of  the  bank  of  France 
put  myself  in  the  power  of  the  law — I  don't  say  justice, 
mind  you,  for  if  half  the  rich  men  you  and  I  know  had  jus 
tice  done  them  they  would  share  the  fate  of  the  ancient 
heroes  of  Hounslow  Heath." 

"  You  talk  like  a  simpleton,  mon  cher.  By  a  stroke  you  can 
be  rich,  and  with  no  crime,  or  even  compromise.  You  are  a 
very  handsome  fellow.  You  make  a  better  figure  in  society 
than  any  man  I  know.  You  are  irresistible  with  women. 
Bella  is  not  engaged.  She  has  a  lurking  fancy  for  her 
cousin,  but  I'll  clear  the  way  for  you  there." 

"  What,  Jack — you  don't  mean  that  after  refusing  a  prince 
you  would  take  up  with  this  prating  dreamer  ? " 

"  I  didn't  say  that  I  was  to  *  take  up  '  as  you  put  it — 
Dunce  !  I  said  that  I  would  keep  the  field  clear  while  you 
engage  the  enemy." 

u  By  Jove,  Jack,  you  ought  to  have  been  the  man  of 
the  family  :  you  ought  to  be  the  minister  of  a  great 
State.  What  a  brain  you've  got,"  and  the  young  man  bent 
over  and  kissed  the  pretty  hand  lying  on  the  counterpane. 
She  stroked  his  hair  fondly,  caressing  the  handsome  fellow 
as  a  mother  her  spoiled  darling.  Then  resumed  musingly  : 
"  There's  no  time  to  lose,  dear.  I  can't  tell  you  how  irk- 


250  TRAJAN. 

some  my  metier  is  growing.  The  society  of  these  odious 
Grovels  fairly  makes  my  teeth  chatter — though  Lafayette 
could  be  made  tolerable  with  some  trouble,  under  proper 
influences,  and  I  think  Clare  would  do  him  a  world  of  good." 
She  shot  a  significant  glance  at  Jules  as  she  hinted  this  auda 
cious  glimpse  of  her  purpose. 

"You  consummate  schemer — that's  the  secret  of  your 
inexplicable  amiability  to  these  gawky  parvenus.  Before 
Heaven,  Jack  Carnot,  I  feel  unworthy  to  touch  the  hem  of 
your  garment." 

Theo  received  this  florid  outburst,  a's  Elizabeth  might 
have  listened  to  the  adoration  of  Essex,  and  continued  : 
"This  lucky  accident  gives  me  the  pretext  I  needed  to  fix 
Clare  out  here.  You  will  go  home  at  once  and  represent 
my  cruel  torments  and  my  cries  for  her  company.  I  will 
make  known  her  natural  solicitude  to  Mrs.  Arden,  and  you 
will  take  her  written  invitation  to  our  sister.  Then  our  lines 
are  drawn,  our  campaign  set,  and  the  Carnots  close  the  map 
of  Europe  again  a  regnant  dynasty." 

She  turned  and  rang  the  bell,  and  to  the  domestic  who 
answered  said,  "  Please  see  if  Madame  Arden  can  spare  a 
moment  to  come  here.  I  want  to  speak  with  her." 

Of  course  Madame  Arden  sympathized  at  once  with  the 
natural  desire  of  the  sufferer  to  have  her  sister,  and  apolo 
gized  for  not  herself  thinking  of  the  matter.  She  instantly 
wrote  a  note  of  cordial  welcome,  and  Jules  set  out  immedi 
ately  to  bring  up  the  remaining  forces  for  Theo's  masterly 
campaign,  the  invalid's  final  admonition  to  her  brother  being 
to  instruct  Clare's  maid  to  pack  all  her  finest  robes  in  the 
trunks,  without  saying  any  thing  to  her  mistress.  The  con 
querors  in  this  world  are  those  who  bear  the  smallest  details 
in  mind,  and  Theo  had  learned  the  secret  thoroughly.  Clare, 
very  much  agitated  by  the  unexpected  news,  made  no  objec 
tion,  of  course,  and  was  at  Theo's  bedside  before  sunset, 
the  artful  Jules  ordering  the  baggage  to  be  sent  after  them. 
As  Jules  was  leaving  the  room  Theo  called  his  attention  to 


THE   WOLF  IN  THE  FOLD.  251 

a  note  on  the  table  addressed  to  himself.  On  reading  it,  he 
shook  with  laughter.  It  was  from  Theo,  directing  him  to 
ride  over  to  Meaux  and  make  himself  known  to  the  kinsmen 
of  the  Carnots — poor  but  titled  people,  dragging  out  a  mis 
erable  existence  in  that  archiepiscopal  town.  He  was  to  let 
them  know  of  the  presence  of  Theo  and  Clare,  and  inform 
them  that  Madame  la  Baronne  and  her  son  would  receive  an 
invitation  to  spend  a  fortnight  at  the  Chateau  Duclos,  and 
that  Jules  would  come  over  to  fetch  them.  <c  Be  prudent  and 
diplomatic  in  the  affair,"  added  the  generalissimo.  "  I  count 
upon  this  noble  kinship  to  impress  W.  L.  G.  and  his  interest 
ing  family,  and  above  all,  burn  these  presents  so  soon  as  you 
have  read  them." 

• 

The  servant  on  duty  in  Theo's  hall  looked  after  the 
young  man  in  surprise  as  he  walked  off  laughing  over  this 
final  evidence  of  Theo's  genius  !  Mrs.  Arden,  Bella,  and 
Edith  came  to  welcome  Clare.  They  had  never  seen  her 
before,  and  were  startled  by  her  majestic  and  serene,  though 
somewhat  faded,  beauty.  She  met  their  cordiality  with  high 
bred  ease — a  contrast  in  every  way  to  the  vivacious  sis 
ter.  She  made  a  marked  and  excellent  effect  upon  the 
ladies.  She  was  satisfied  to  find  her  sister  so  much  better 
than  she  had  anticipated,  and  expressed  the  hope  of  taking 
her  home  by  the  end  of  the  week.  Mrs.  Arden  insisted  that 
they  would  expect  a  visit  from  their  guest,  and  the  sisters  were 
left  alone,  Clare  begging  permission  to  dine  in  the  invalid's 
room. 

In  the  morning  when  Jules  came  over,  Theo  gave  him  a 
note  for  Mrs.  Grovel,  containing  the  list  of  guests  and  a 
special  paragraph  recounting  the  grandeur  of  her  kinswoman 
the  Baroness  Pleinevide  and  her  son  the  young  Baron,  a  cap 
tain  in  the  imperial  guard.  "  Dear  Mrs.  Grovel  would  please 
her  so  much  by  inviting  them  at  once,  as  Jules  could  go 
and  fetch  them,  before  he  returned  to  Paris." 

The  honest  washerwoman  was  quite  taken  aback  to  find 
that  the  Carnots  were  related  to  noblemen.  She  regarded 


2$2  TRAJAN. 

Jules  with  a  new  emotion.  "Who,"  she  asked  herself, 
"would  have  supposed  that  Theo,  who  shopped  for  her  and 
received  her  presents  with  gratitude,  was  great-niece  to  a 
real  nobleman  ?  "  The  good  lady  began  to  regret  her  con 
fidences  to  her  quondam  Satellite.  Jules  remarked  the 
change  of  demeanor,  and  you  may  be  sure  he  gave  Theo  a 
faithful  account  of  the  success  of  her  stratagem.  That  young 
person  evinced  no  surprise.  She  laughed  a  gay  little  laugh, 
remarking  cynically  that  she  had  measured  the  folks  she  met 
in  the  world,  and  found  that  while  they  differed  in  size,  they 
were  all  of  the  same  fiber,  spun  in  the  same  web,  and  all 
bent  on  eking  out  their  woof  in  the  same  direction.  It  was 
vital,  however,  to  bring  Lafayette  on  the  scene,  and  for  this 
purpose  the  day  after  Clare's  coming  Theo  expressed  pro 
found  fatigue  of  her  surroundings,  and  prayed  to  be  taken 
down  to  the  salon.  The  physician  saw  no  danger  in  the 
change,  and  the  invalid,  looking  very  charming  indeed,  was 
placed  in  an  alcove  off  the  music  room,  where  the  company 
came  to  congratulate  her.  Jules  brought  Lafayette  so  soon 
as  th.e  others  had  dispersed  to  their  different  diversions. 

He  was  presented  to  Clare,  and  her  gentle,  distraught  air 
made  a  perceptible  impression  upon  him.  He  recognized  it  at 
once,  as  he  told  his  mother,  as  the  real  "  swell  air,  just 
fairly  as  you  see  it  among  the  court  people."  Mrs.  Grovel  was 
quite  speechless  before  this  superior  being,  and  it  was  quite 
as  well  for  Theo's  schemes  that  she  was,  for  whatever  chance 
Lafayette  might  have  in  capturing  Clare's  consent  to  sharing 
his  fortune,  would  have  been  destroyed  if  his  mother  had 
revealed  her  primitive  manners  in  full  to  the  fastidious  beauty. 
Not  that  Clare  had  the  faintest  suspicion  of  the  comedy  in 
which  she  was  cast  for  the  chief  role.  She  tolerated  the 
young  man  because  Jules  seemed  fond  of  him,  and  Theo 
was  amused  by  his  inextinguishable  good  humor  and  droll 
sayings.  Jules  had  been  urged  by  Mrs.  Grovel  to  go  off  and 
hurry  his  relative  the  Baronne,  but  the  old  lady  declared  that 
she  could  not  be  ready  for  some  days  and  must  get  leave 


THE   WOLF  IN  THE  FOLD.  253 

from  the  general  for  her  son's  absence.  Theo  laughed 
when  she  read  the  stately  epistle  of  her  father's  cousin.  She 
was  "  enchanted,"  La  Baronne  wrote,  "  to  find  that  her 
par  ens  were  so  near,  and  she  would  do  herself  the  honor  to 
accept  with  empressement  the  charming  hospitality  offered, 
so  soon  as  she  could  communicate  with  her  dear  son  Antoine, 
who  was  on  duty  with  his  regiment,  and  meanwhile,  she  had 
the  high  privilege  of  signing  herself,  Mademoiselle  s  tout 
devouee,  Amelie  Augustine  Belpre  Baronne  de  Pleinevide." 

Theo  said  gayly  when  she  read  this  worldly-wise  little 
note  from  her  ruse*  kinswoman  ; 

"  The  old  lady  has  got  to  get  a  new  cap  and  gown,  or  she 
would  have  been  here  as  fast  as  the  horses  could  carry  her. 
She  probably  has  dined  on  hot  water  soup,  a  cotelette  twice 
a  week,  with  a  ragotit  as  a  change,  since  the  lamented  Baron 
left  her  in  the  independence  of  widowhood.  I  doubt  very 
much  whether  the  good-hearted  Mrs.  Grovefwill  ever  get 
rid  of  her,  if  she  takes  it  into  her  head  to  fasten  upon  that 
favored  household.  But  in  that  event  we  shall  have 
the  satisfaction  of  a  good  deed,  as  becomes  relatives,"  she 
concluded,  tapping  the  amused  Jules  on  the  shoulder. 

Clare,  meanwhile,  had  been  induced  to  visit  the  Grovels, 
where  her  aristocratic  repose  produced  due  effect.  Grovel 
Pere,  who  had  an  air  of  perpetual  unrest,  "  allowed  "  that  the 
young  woman  looked  a  good  deal  more  like  a  princess  than  the 
painted  and  plastered  "  shrumps  "  he  saw  in  Paris,  and  fur 
thermore,  she  didn't  seem  to  be  "  talking  with  her  mouth, 
as  if  afraid  she'd  forget  the  use  of  her  tongue  or  let  her 
teeth  decay  for  want  of  air."  Amanda  declared  that  she 
"beat  the  princess  in  the  convent  all  hollow,"  and  the  little 
Grovels  were,  perhaps  for  the  first  time  in  their  lives,  awed 
into  silence.  Mrs.  Grovel  was  so  charmed  with  the  paragon, 
that  she  avowed  her  purpose  of  tempting  Theo  with  the 
most  coveted  object  in  the  bazars  of  the  Rue  de  la  Paix  to 
prevail  upon  her  sister  to  remain  as  an  indefinite  adornment 
to  the  Grovel  household.  Clare's  quietness  among  these 


254  TRAJAN. 

exemplars  of  western  haut  ton  was  as  much  the  result  of  sur 
prise  as  inclination.  She  had  never  seen  such  people.  Her 
life  in  Paris  was  that  of  a  recluse.  She  saw  the  very  poor 
among  the  parishioners  of  St.  Philippe  du  Roule,  but  it  was 
only  as  a  ministering  deess.  She  felt  no  arrogant  superiority 
for  the  new  sort  of  people,  she  simply  felt  as  a  secluded 
scion  of  ancient  rank  and  fine  manners  would  feel  if  launched 
into  the  regnant  societies  of  London,  Paris,  or  New  York. 

She  was  not  lacking  in  the  wit  that  comes  with  high  refine 
ment,  and  the  humors  of  the  family  soon  gave  them  an  interest 
in  her  eyes  that  stood  them  in  better  stead  than  their  wealth. 
She  won  the  frantic  devotion  of  the  children  during  the  days 
she  passed  in  the  splendid  grounds  of  the  stately  chateau. 
Marion,  a  bright-faced  lad  of  fourteen,  instantly  offered  her 
his  pony,  while  Sophronia,  a  sprite  of  thirteen,  laid  her  dolls 
and  cherished  dainties  at  the  divinity's  feet.  She  was  very 
gentle  and  sWeet  to  the  brood,  and  moved  the  honest  dowa 
ger  Grovel  to  tears  of  grateful  delight  when  she  kissed  her 
two  little  friends  on  parting.  All  this  faithfully  reported  to 
Theo,  put  that  arch  sorcerer  in  the  frame  of  mind  that  it 
may  be  fancied  Prospero  was  in,  when  he  saw  the  spells  of 
Ariel  binding  the  young  Duke  of  Milan  to  the  lovely 
Miranda.  And  the  passive  Clare,  unconscious  of  the  pivotal 
part  she  was  playing,  what  would  she  have  said  had  she 
known  the  instrumentality  she  was  serving  in  the  astute 
game  that  was  to  delude  an  honest  heart  ? 

After  all,  mused  Jules  as  he  took  Clare  back,  we  deceive 
in  this  world,  however  honest  our  intentions.  Which 
of  us  would  dare  tell  our  nearest  friend  the  thoughts 
that  pass  in  our  mind  ?  Do  we  think  of  the  golden 
words  of  the  Reverend  Felix  Allgood  as  we  sit  under 
the  ministry  of  that  reverenced  divine  ?  Are  we  filled 
with  contrition  when  the  service  bids  us  repeat  the 
words  "  forgive  us  as  we  forgive?"  We  live  as  much  to 
deceive  as  to  be  deceived.  Which  of  us  is  there  that  won't 
believe  out  of  hand  the  most  vicious  innuendo  that  the  idle 


THE   WOLF  IN  THE  FOLD,  255 

retail  to  us  of  our  friends,  while  we  turn  an  incredulous  ear 
only  when  repeated  of  ourselves  ?  Clare  was  moving  inno 
cently  in  the  very  circles  traced  out  for  her,  but  who  will 
credit  her  guilelessness  when  the  plot  is  laid  bare  and  she  is 
sharing  the  gains  with  the  astute  plotter?  So  if  the  charity 
of  the  world  were  of  more  value  than  its  scorn,  we  might 
bespeak  it  for  the  guiltless  in  craft,  but  as  it  isn't,  why 
waste  time  over  the  posing  hypocrisy  !  One  vice  not  only 
hides  another,  it  excuses  it,  and  the  sum  is  oblivion  of  both. 

Theo  was  curious  to  learn  Clare's  opinion  of  the  family, 
but  dared  not  ask  the  question  outright.  She  saw  that 
Clare  was  more  pensive  and  silent  than  usual  and  wisely 
forebore  questioning  her.  Still  another  triumph  was  in 
store  for  the  conqueror.  Two  days  later  La  Baronne  de 
Pleinevide  arrived  in  great  state  in  her  own  carriage,  the 
panels  adorned  with  the  arms  of  the  family.  A  dashing 
soldier  in  the  blue  and  gold  of  the  cuirassier  set  the  small 
Grovels  agape  with  delight.  La  Baronne,  an  alert,  lithe, 
little  body  of  seventy-five,  skipped  out  of  the  chariot  and 
presented  herself  with  the  most  charming  embarrassment  to 
Mrs.  Grovel,  who  happened  to  be  at  the  porch  with  her 
brood  about  her,  when  Jules  came  down,  being  hastily  ap 
prised  of  the  arrival.  His  kinswoman  was  already  deep  in 
the  graces  of  her  hostess,  to  whom  her  broken  English  was 
an  unspeakable  comfort.  The  big  guardsman  she  could 
only  smile  at  and  caress  with  her  friendly  glances,  as  he 
could  speak  no  English.  He  made  himself  irresistible  to 
Amanda  and  Master  Marion,  who  were  adepts  in  the 
French  tongue.  Reproached  by  Jules  for  taking  the  family 
by  surprise  and  depriving  him  of  the  expected  pleasure  of 
driving  her  over  from  Meaux,  La  Baronne  cried  out  in  her 
gay  French  way  :  "Ah,  but  it  was  too  much, — what  would 
you  ?  The  horses  were  there,  and  we  have  so  little  occasion 
to  use  the  coach,  now  that  Antoine  is  in  Paris,  I  was 
enchanted  to  have  so  good  a  tour  for  them." 

Jules   took  occasion  to  make  known  the  situation  to  the 


256  TRAJAN. 

guardsman  as  he  showed  him  to  his  quarters.  The  Grovels 
were  represented  as  a  very  good  sort  of  nouveaux  riches 
who  were  devoted  to  his  sisters  and  himself,  and  he  hoped 
that  Madame  La  Baronne  would  accept  their  friendly  ways 
without  dwelling  too  much  on  their  peculiarities. 

"  Sapristi !"  cried  the  guardsman,  dazzled  by  the  sumpt 
uous  apartment  assigned  him.  "  One  would  be  content  to  be 
a  Chinois  to  be  able  to  afford  such  magnificence  as  this.  You 
may  be  sure  mamma  will  respond  with  effusion  to  such 
hospitable  intentions." 

He  was  right.  Never  was  such  a  gracious  old  noble 
woman  seen,  since  the  fairy  godmother  took  up  the  fortunes 
of  Cinderella.  She  was  urbanity  itself  to  the  "  Go-vels," 
whose  name  she  gave  up  trying  to  pronounce  in  comic  de 
spair.  Taken  in  state  by  Jules  to  make  acquaintance  with 
her  great  grand-nieces,  she  was  captivated  by  the  lively 
Theo  and  impressed  prodigiously  by  the  distinguee  Clare, 
who,  she  protested,  resembled  her  grandmother,  the  Countess 
Belpre.  She  was  lost  in  astonishment  at  the  surroundings  of 
her  kinsfolk.  Theo  knew  that  in  her  heart  the  old  lady  had 
imagined  her  American  relations  a  species  of  bedizened  sav 
ages.  The  Ardens  she  pronounced  tres  distingues — quite  the 
carriage  and  mien  of  the  noblesse.  She  touched  every  one  in 
the  company  with  her  child-like  joy  over  her  new-found 
kinsfolk,  protesting  their  goodness  in  remembering  a  veiflle 
cruche  like  herself  in  these  days  of  fete.  She  studied  Theo 
with  furtive  attention  when  the  demoiselle  was  not  aware  of 
the  scrutiny.  The  guardsman  was  voted  capital  company 
by  the  young  men,  and  Theo  finished  the  day,  conscious  of 
having  made  a  masterstroke  in  her  campaign. 

"  Eh  bien,  ma  mtre,  what  do  you  make  of  it  all  ? "  the 
guardsman  asked,  as  mother  and  son  sat  in  the  latter's  bed 
room  before  bidding  her  good-night. 

"  Hein"  grinned  the  old  lady.  "  It's  plain  enough  ;  La 
Petite  Theo  has  a  parti  to  make,  and  our  noblesse  is  to  be 
made  to  help  her." 


THE   WOLF  IN  THE  FOLD.  257 

"  But  which  one  ?     I  saw'no  one  paying  her  court." 

"  You  may  be  sure  it  was  not  for  our  beaux  yeux  she 
asked  us  here.  Soit !  She  shall  gain  her  end  and  she  shall 
pay  us  for  our  complaisance — by  helping  you  to  one  of  the 
partis.  All  these  Americans  are  fabulously  rich  and  you 
can't  go  amiss.  Select  the  plainest  and  you'll  be  likely  to 
meet  less  difficulty.  At  your  age  looks  don't  matter.  A 
half  million  dot  will  enable  you  to  make  love  at  your 
leisure." 

"  I  have  been  making  love  for  fifteen  years  without  the 
half  million  dot — I  should  like  the  change  par  bleu." 

"  Be  prudent,  mon  cher,  and  you  shall  leave  here  with  a 
half  million  dot — who  knows  but  a  million  in  your  sac  ?  " — 
said  the  fond  parent  as  she  put  up  her  withered  cheek  for 
the  good-night  kiss. 

From  which  you  will  remark  Theo  comes  honestly  by  her 
Machiavellian  principles,  and  that  sooner  or  later  what 
is  bred  in  the  bone  comes  out  in  the  flesh.  How  little 
did  the  masters  and  mistresses  of  these  two  grand  houses, 
in  which  for  the  moment,  reader,  you  and  I  are  lodg 
ing,  with  the  splendid  and  wise  and  witty  and  beauti 
ful  guests — how  little  did  they  dream  of  the  parts 
assigned  them  in  this  drama  of  their  own  choosing  !  The 
candid  and  kindly  Mrs.  Arden,  with  her  life  wrapped  up  in 
the  lad  tossing  in  fever  there,  distrusted  nothing  for  him 
more  grievous  than  the  silly  bruise  on  his  side  ;  saw  no 
further  into  the  future  than  the  day  which  should  make  him 
the  husband  of  Bella,  or,  if  fortune  should  deny  her  that 
cherished  hope,  of  some  other  fair  and  sweet  girl  worthy  of 
his  honest  heart.  And  so  the  music  crashes,  and  the  puppets 
leer  and  strut  and  squeak  out  yea — when  they  mean  nay,  and 
the  masks  on  their  faces  are  transparent  as  the  limpid  dews 
under  the  morning  sun,  compared  with  the  mask  on  their 
hearts.  Sleep  peacefully,  lions  and  lambs — hug  your  pil 
lows,  foxes  and  asses,  for  the  morrow  comes,  and  still  the 
morrow,  and  you  are  lions  and  lambs,  wolves  and  foxes, 


258  TRAJAN. 

geese  and  swans,  to  the  end  of  the  play,  and  who  knows 
what  after  ? 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE    RAVINE    OF    REVECHE. 

CLARE'S  coming  lessened  the  party  at  Les  Charmettes. 
Philip,  so  soon  as  Jules'  mission  was  made  known,  found 
that  he  had  urgent  business  in  Paris,  and  he  was  seen  no 
more  among  the  company.  He  intimated  vaguely  to  Elliot 
that  if  war  were  declared,  he  would  volunteer  on  Gen. 
Frossard's  staff.  That  veteran  was  an  old  friend,  whom  he 
had  met  at  West  Point  in  his  cadet  days,  and  nothing  would 
delight  him  more  than  witnessing  a  campaign  in  Europe. 
Nothing  was  to  be  said  to  his  aunts,  as  such  a  project  would 
make  them  miserable,  and  Elliot,  knowing  that  his  cousin 
was  son  and  brother  in  the  household,  promised  to  be  pru 
dent.  Theo  heard  of  Philip's  sudden  departure  with  a 
vengeful  gleam  in  the  satiny  orange-green  eyes,  that  Jules 
remarked,  but  could  not  comprehend.  Clare,  unconscious 
that  her  old  lover  had  been  so  near  her,  never  knew  until 
long  afterward  the  shock  she  had  escaped. 

"  Now,"  murmured  the  little  invalid,  "  we  shall  see  if  it 
strikes  the  Ardens  as  a  mesalliance  to  let  their  precious  blood 
mingle  with  the  Carnots,  exile,  refugee,  valet,  usurer  and 
Cotton  King,  by  the  divine  right  of  brains." 

The  humor  of  the  comedy  pleased  her  more  than  the  classic 
justice  to  be  done  ;  the  vengeance  upon  the  race  that  had 
brought  ruin  to  the  darling  of  the  family.  She  mused  on 
the  strange  readiness  of  every  thing  to  fall  into  line  with  her 
dreams.  She  had  never  relinquished  the  hope  of  some  strik 
ing  triumph  which  should  eclipse  the  Ardens  ;  events  were 
of  themselves  laying  a  train  which  should  add  embitterment 
to  the  overshadowing  she  had  dreamed  and  schemed.  Since 
her  masterful  success  in  vanquishing  poverty  Theo  had  con- 


THE  RA  VINE  OF  REVECHE..  259 

vinced  herself  that  nothing  was  impossible  to  the  man  that 
knew  his  own  powers  and  himself  surely — for  he  knew  others, 
and  to  confront  facts  was  to  overcome  them.  She  hugged 
herself  in  a  remorseless  sort  of  joy  to  think  that  she  was 
planted  in  the  very  citadel  of  the  enemy  and  that  it  depended 
on  herself  solely,  whether  they  were  to  be  cajoled  into 
accomplices  or  subtly  enmeshed  into  instruments  of  the 
designs  fate  had  put  it  into  her  hands  to  carry  out. 

Judge  her  not  too  harshly  !  She  had  tasted  the  cup  that 
made  life  bitter,  at  an  age  when  such  infirmities  as  hers  should 
have  been  soothed  by  the  exotic  odors  of  love.  She  had 
not  become  soured  as  we  see  strong  men  ;  she  did  not 
make  vulgar  revenge  a  prime  object  in  the  involved  scheme 
of  cross  purposes  she  had  set  her  incomparable  powers  to 
carry  out.  She  had  the  instincts  of  the  fine  lady,  whose  soul 
has  become  the  slave  of  intellect.  She  would  have  much 
preferred  straightforward  methods  and  the  gracious  amen 
ities  of  her  sex,  had  fate  not  so  shifted  the  instruments  that 
she  was  obliged  to  use  them  covertly  and  in  the  darkness. 

She  had  never  lost  the  purpose  to  make  Philip  repent  in 
the  anguish  he  had  caused  Clare,  the  dastard  wrong  he  had 
done  her.  She  had  imagined  a  fine  poetic  justice  in  bring 
ing  him  to  her  own  chariot  and  having  kept  him  on  foot, 
with  uncovered  head  and  beseeching  eyes,  to  dismiss  him  in 
scorn  !  But  he  had  unexpectedly  found  nothing  congenial, 
where  the  rest  of  his  sex  stood  with  adulating  delight. 
Through  Clare  herself  nothing  was  possible.  She  refused 
to  go  where  there  was  any  likelihood  of  an  encounter  with 
her  quondam  lover.  Even  Theo's  disaster  would  not  have 
moved  Clare,  had  she  known  that  Philip  was  part  of  the 
Crecy  company. 

It  was  not  sheer  wickedness — let  this  be  borne  in  mind, 
in  the  singular  girl's  justification.  Most  of  us  are  what  we 
must  be,  not  that  we  feel  we  are  born  to  be,  or  should  be, 
and  what  we  know  we  are  derelict  in  not  being.  Theo  had 
no  idea  that  she  ought  to  be  any  thing  else  than  the  conquer- 


260  TRAJAN. 

ing  arbiter  in  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  all  who  were  thrown 
within  her  range.  It  was  bred  in  her  bone,  and  by  inherit 
ance  that  worldly  consideration  was  worth  any  price  and 
justified  any  means  in  securing.  She  transmuted  all  the 
sacred  gifts  of  womanhood,  rare  mind,  winning  wit,  intellect, 
heart  and  brain,  in  the  flaming  crucible  of  vanity  and  ego 
tism,  blind  to  the  dross  into  which  the  ingredients  were 
transformed.  She  was  never  the  dark  intriguer.  She  waited 
for  the  forces  she  needed  to  come  to  her  hand  and  made 
her  resources  irresistible  by  eschewing  mystery,  even  in  her 
boldest  projects. 

It  was  not  the  evil  people  said  of  her,  above  breath,  she 
feared  ;  that  could  be  met  and  discredited.  It  was  the  evil 
that  might  be  thought,  and  by  long  thinking  assume  danger 
ous  shape,  that  she  guarded  against.  She  never  forgot  the 
Baconian  apothegm  she  had  once  heard  Jules  read  :  "  If  a 
man  be  thought  secret  he  invites  discovery."  Unreserve  was 
the  conquering  shaft  in  her  armory,  that  she  counted  on  with 
never  unjustified  confidence.  She  concealed  more  by  a 
bewildering  frankness  than  another,  less  adroit,  by  the  most 
studious  reserve.  Hate  she  would  never  permit  herself  to 
cherish  for  an  instant.  It  was  a  silly  waste  of  vital  tissue, 
and  her  beauty  needed  all  her  blood  and  perfect  digestion. 
She  never  threw  that  precious  force  away  therefore. 

Upon  no  injury,  slight,  defeat,  rival,  or  whatsoever  source 
of  bitterness  she  encountered,  did  she  throw  away  a  hate. 
•She  had  been  foolish  enough  to  love.  That  was  a  lesson 
that  taught  her  the  danger  of  burning  the  lamp  at  both 
ends.  She  loved  still,  but  as  we  love  the  dead,  with  a 
resigned  forgetfulness  ;  the  passing  worship  of  an  ideal,  in 
conflict  with  our  stronger  passions. 

Philip  at  Les  Charmettes  would  have  been  a  double  impedi 
ment  to  the  orderly  and  decisive  manipulation  of  the  con 
duct  of  the  people  in  whom  her  interests  were  enlisted.  While 
Philip  remained  free  Clare  would  never  marry — for,  though  she 
never  said  it,  Theo  knew  that  her  sister  would  not  give  up 


THE  RA  VINE  OF  REVECHE.  261 

the  dream  of  the  past.  For,  among  other  things  that  she  had 
learned  since  coming  to  Paris,  was  the  fact  that  Philip's 
abandonment  had  been  forced  upon  him.  He  had  led  a 
wild  life  in  his  college  days  there  and  become  involved  in  a 
mesalliance. 

So  far  as  she  could  permit  herself  to  hate,  she  hated  Philip 
Kent ;  while  his  influence  at  Les  Charmettes  remained  undis 
turbed  she  could  hope  for  no  permanent  hold  on  Elliot.  She 
suspected  that  Bella  was  the  attraction  that  had  kept  Philip 
from  his  Norway  project,  and  if  he  made  headway  in  that 
new  love  she  would  see  the  dream  of  her  life  balked.  She 
would  hold  the  same  cup  to  Bella's  lip  that  had  been  held  to 
Clare's.  She  had  already  shaken  Elliot's  constancy.  She 
would  humiliate  the  Ardens  as  the  Carnots  had  been  humil 
iated.  All  the  means  were  in  her  hands,  if  she  could  but 
drive  Trajan  and  Philip  from  the  family  for  a  time.  The 
big  Antoine  must  be  made  use  of  to  dispose  of  them,  and 
she  thought  she  saw  a  way  of  bringing  the  two  into  such 
antagonism,  as  the  Frenchman,  with  a  hint,  would  be  able  to 
turn  to  account.  She  took  Philip's  departure  as  a  truce,  not  a 
finality  ;  she  foresaw  that  so  soon  as  Clare  quit  Les  Charmettes 
he  would  be  back  ;  but  she  meant  either  to  fix  Clare  there 
until  her  ends  were'  served,  or  secure  Philip's  neutrality  by 
other  measures. 

It  had  not  been  faring  so  well  with  Elliot  these  days  of 
Theo's  covert  triumph.  The  evening  of  the  second  day  he 
was  feverish  and  filled  with  excruciating  pain. 

The  poor  lad  rambled  in  the  strangest  fashion  of  sparrows 
and  flowers.  Then  breaking  off  suddenly  he  pleaded  with  some 
one  earnestly  to  come  to  him  out  of  the  water,  and  not  die. 
Then  he  painted  a  roseate  picture  of  two  friends  who  should 
go  through  life  illustrating  every  thing  famous  in  romance. 
Once  or  twice  he  named  Trajan,  but  in  an  appealing  or  remon 
strating  way.  On  the  seventh  day  all  pain  and  danger  had 
passed,  and  the  patient  was  permitted  to  sit  by  the  window. 
Trajan  brought  his  easel  down  and  sketched  most  of  the  time, 


262  TRAJAN. 

while  Edith  read  from  Walter  Scott  or  Thackeray.  Theo.  in- 
sisted  on  sharing  the  invalid's  imprisonment  an  hour  or  more 
each  day,  and  when  she  was  announced  Trajan  always  made  a 
pretext  to  quit  the  chamber,  leaving  Mrs.  Arden  or  Edith 
with  the  invalids.  Resuming  his  former  haunts,  the  young 
man  passed  a  great  deal  of  time  in  the  woods,  sometimes 
alone,  sometimes  with  Bella  and  one  or  more  of  the  guests. 

Bella  showed  impartial  preferences  to  none  of  the  gallants. 
Sometimes  she  set  out  with  Bellechasse,  enjoying  his  pre 
tense  of  a  liking  for  walking — which  no  Gaul  was  ever  known 
to  tolerate.  Her  patient  interest  in  Hector's  introspective 
prattle  led  that  young  man  to  believe  that  he  was  the  favored 
suitor,  and  he  gave  himself  fine  airs  accordingly.  Before  a 
week  was  over  the  young  girl  knew  all  the  Bostonian  had 
ever  seen  or  experienced,  and  according  to  his  showing  that 
was  a  prodigious  amount.  His  prowess  in  battle  was  his 
favorite,  as  it  was  his  constant  theme,  and  Bella  found  her 
self  wondering  that  he  wasn't  a  major-general  or  great  mil 
itary  dignitary.  Those  who  observed  Hector  closely  saw  a 
proposal  in  his  eyes  for  days.  His  cheeks,  red  as  apples, 
fairly  glowed  with  the  sense  of  coming  favor,  and  his 
intent  and  mysterious  glance,  by  which  he  impressed  the 
world  with  the  vastness  of  his  mental  possessions,  deepened 
in  hidden  suggestion.  Breakfast  was  hardly  over  when  he 
asked  Bella  if  she  felt  like  walking  to  the  woods  of  Reveche. 
Bella  was  meditating  a  walk  and  would  be  ready  later  in  the 
afternoon.  Trajan,  happening  to  hear  the  dialogue,  said  to 
Hector  soberly  : 

"  Keep  clear  of  the  Spanish  bulls  in  the  Baron  Rothschild's 
part  of  the  wood.  They  are  annoying,  and  under  some 
provocations  dangerous.  There  were  so  many  attacks  on 
strangers  last  year  that  the  baron  gave  orders  that  the  brutes 
should  be  confined,  but  they  manage  to  break  out  for  all 
that.  Should  you  come  across  one  you  need  have  no  fear  if 
you  manage  properly.  Don't  turn  your  back  on  one,  if  he 
comes  at  you,  for  in  the  open  field  it  will  be  rather  playful- 


THE  RA  VINE  OF  REVECHE.  263 

ness  than  viciousness  that  prompts  his  attentions.  But  woe 
to  you  if  you  turn  tail  without  sufficient  start  and  a  friendly 
tree  or  hedge.  I  learned  a  good  deal  of  the  race  in  Anda 
lusia  and  have  often  driven  a  single  bull  away  by  facing  him.'' 

Now  by  a  common  impulse  all  the  males  of  the  company 
mocked  the  vainglories  of  the  rotund  Bostonian.  His  art 
less  self-importance  amused  them,  and  when  they  heard 
Trajan's  admonition  they  fell  to  recounting  the  horrors  that 
surprises  in  the  open  fields  by  bulls  had  wrought.  Hector 
listened  silently  to  these  tales  of  taurine  terror,  saying  nothing 
until  the  dismal  yarns  were  exhausted.  He  favored  his  tor 
mentors  with  a  blood-curdling  adventure  in  Bulgaria,  to  illus 
trate  how  well  equipped  he  was  to  encounter  the  neighboring 
horns  should  they  beset  him  in  his  walks  abroad.  He  had, 
he  declared,  slaughtered  the  fiercest  bull  amon^  the  wild 
herds  of  the  Balkans,  and  was  at  that  moment  the  possessor 
of  the  medal  of  valor,  presented  by  the  Hospador  himself  to 
signalize  this  gallantry.  The  sly  Miss  McNair,  sitting  by, 
could  not  resist  a  gentle  stab  at  the  ingenuous  hero.  Every 
body  enjoyed  the  shrewd  spinster's  jokes — even  those  at 
whose  expense  they  were  made.  Affecting  an  admiring 
interest  in  Hector's  self-sounded  exploits,  Kate  said  guile 
lessly  : 

"Ah,  Mr.  Hector,  you  must  show  us  all  your  medals  and 
orders  when  we  get  to  Paris.  I'm  very  fond  of  things  of 
that  sort,  and  have  a  collection  myself." 

"  Not  won  by  deeds  in  the  field  ?  "  asked  the  vicomte 
gravely. 

"  No,  picked  up  in  little  out-of-the-way  shops  in  Paris, 
Rome,  and  London  !  " 

Hector  didn't  understand  why  there  was  such  a  hearty 
laugh  as  he  went  off  to  prepare  for  the  interview,  which  he 
resolved  was  to  settle  his  fortunes.  Trajan  was  talking  to 
Elliot,  when  the  servant  announced  Mademoiselle  Theo.  as 
about  to  enter.  He  said  he  had  a  bit  of  sketching  to  finish, 
and  hastened  toward  the  dressing  room  door. 


264  TRAjAtf. 

"  I  say,  Trajan,  why  do  you  go  ?  I  want  to  talk  over 
something  with  you  and  Miss  Theo.  Do  you  know  she  is 
incomparable  company?" 

"  Oh  !  one's  company  and  two's  none — I  really  must  get 
at  my  sketch  while  I  have  the  idea  warm  in  me,"  and  Trajan 
fled  as  Theo.'s  chair  was  set  beside  the  open  window. 
Curiously  enough  the  sight  of  Edith  standing  in  the  hall 
below  quite  drove  the  pressing  need  of  the  sketch  from  his 
mind.  He  ran  lightly  down  the  stairway  and  said,  as  he 
reached  the  little  maid  : 

"  You  have  often  asked  to  see  the  Ravine  of  Reveche  ; 
this  is  a  perfect  day  ;  not  too  warm  ;  and  it  will  be  a  great 
lark  to  surprise  the  others  who  are  going  there  to  appear 
mysteriously  among  them.  I  know  a  secluded  path  that 
shortens  the  distance  nearly  one-third.  We  shall  have  a 
capital  tin*." 

Edith  was  delighted,  nothing  would  please  her  better,  and 
when  she  had  gone  to  apprise  mamma  and  Elliot,  she  would 
be  at  Mr.  Gray's  disposal.  She  tripped  lightly  up  the  stairs, 
Trajan's  eyes  following  the  willowy  graceful  figure  with  per 
haps  something  more  than  the  artist's  love  of  fine  lines  and 
sinuous  movement.  I'm  afraid  that  if  Theo.'s  bright  eyes 
had  happened  to  fall  upon  the  artist  at  that  moment,  the 
sight  would  have  made  a  blur  upon  the  clear  surface  of  the 
mirror  in  which  she  inwardly  contemplated  her  meditated 
triumphs. 

The  young  people  set  out  directly,  passing  through  the 
vocal  covert,  and  over  the  little  gurgling  brook  where  the 
fairness  of  Elliot's  sister  had  first  flashed  upon  the  preoccu 
pied  mind  of  Trajan.  He  had  ever  since  felt  a  quite  unac 
countable  tenderness  for  the  spot,  and  the  pensive  Edith 
had  several  times  surprised  the  young  man  standing  silent 
and  quite  absurdly  guilty,  when  she  appeared,  gazing  into  the 
limpid  pool  and  idly  flinging  honeysuckle  sprays  into  the 
eddying  waters.  On  other  occasions  the  wise  little  maid, 
doubtless  reluctant  to  interrupt  the  poet's  communings,  stole 


THE  RA  VINE  OF  REVECHE.  265 

softly  away,  without  making  her  presence  known,  though 
there  were  seasons  when,  not  finding  him  there,  she,  too, 
studied  the  purling  water  and  fed  its  gurgling  shallows  with 
buds  from  the  honeysuckle,  as  she  had  seen  him  do.  As 
for  Trajan,  he  had  no  notion  that  he  was  worshiping  the 
spirit  of  a  shrine  in  these  dryad  devotions  upon  the  altar  of 
a  momentary  memory,  nor  reflected  that  while  : — 

"  Some  there  be  who  shadows  kiss 
Such  have  but  a  shadow's  bliss." 

More  than  that  he  didn't  ask — or  rather,  it  did  not  happen 
to  him  to  think  of  more.  He  had  no  notion  of  distinguish 
ing  his  fondness  for  Edith  from  his  love  for  her  brother.  She 
was  dear  to  him  because  Elliot  was  his  Paladin — for  Trajan 
was  young,  and  an  artist,  and  silly  enough  to  believe  in  close 
friendship  between  men.  If  he  had  stopped  to  analyze  the 
delight  he  felt  in  being  near  Edith  he  would  have  said 
straightway  that  it  was  because  she  was  dear  to  Elliot  ;  nor 
did  he  realize  the  odd  fact,  that  though  Mrs.  Arden  was 
equally  near  Achates,  he  was  conscious  of  no  yearning  to 
watch  the  changing  expression  of  that  comely  and  gentle 
countenance  ! 

The  thief  is  a  foolish  fellow  to  come  in  the  night  ! 
He  could  do  his  business  better  in  the  day,  for  the  very 
audacity  of  it  is  his  protection.  Trajan  walked  as  con 
fidingly  into  the  fowler's  net,  as  though  his  bruised  feet  and 
mangled  body  had  never  felt  the  teeth.  He  marched  dream 
ing  and  careless  into  i.he  flowery  ambuscade,  no  more  feeling 
the  soft  pricking  of  the  thorns  under  the  rose  leaves,  than  if 
his  hands  were  gauntleted  and  he  bore  the  armor  of  life, 
that  shields  from  its  roseate  missiles  as  well  as  its  slings  and 
arrows.  It  was  Elliot's  face  that  he  felt  assured  he  saw  as 
his  brush  lingered  on  the  details  of  the  sketch,  now  trans 
ferred  to  canvas.  And  the  days  went  dreamily  on.  The 
divine  mystery  enveloping  him  deeper  and  deeper  every 
hour  as  he  walked,  stalked,  and  rode — by  the  eyes  that  were 
not  Elliot's,  but  dear  because  they  were  like  his  ! 


266  TRAJAN. 

Yet  you  will  readily  see  that  a  prudent  young  man  who  had 
just  suffered  such  a  massacre  of  the  sensibilities  as  this  pre 
posterous  fellow,  should  have  been  on  his  guard  !  He  was 
not  in  the  least.  He  allowed  himself  to  gaze  on  the 
bewitching  blue  eyes  and  golden  tresses  of  the  gentle,  tender 
girl,  and  never  took  the  trouble  to  ask  himself  the  cost  of 
the  loss  of  such  opportunities.  I  own  I  have  no  patience 
with  this  young  man,  in  certain  phases  of  his  conduct,  as  I 
hinted  when  this  history  opened — I  am  merely  putting  into 
narrative  what  befell  him,  from  the  testimony  of  others  as 
well  as  himself  ;  and  ridiculous  and  contradictory  as  you  now 
see  him,  I  have  lightened  the  colors  as  much  as  I  could 
while  keeping  good  faith  with  my  duty  as  biographer.  Yes, 
condemn  him  as  he  dawdles  along  the  hedges,  plucking  the 
scarlet  coquelicot,  stringing  gauzy  blades  of  fern  into  nosegays, 
and  luring  the  artless  girl  into  weaving  them  in  her  hair, 
on  her  hat,  and  even  on  her  gown,  to  give  him  a  study  for  a 
pastoral,  forsooth  !  Out  upon  you,  hulking  hypocrite  !  Have 
you  never  read  the  simplest  rudiments  of  love-making  ? 

Why  the  youngest  reader  that  condescends  to  follow  your 
aggravating  adventures,  knows  just  as  well  where  this  is  to 
end,  as  you  do  the  current  of  the  brook  that  gurgles 
through  the  fields  of  my  lord  baron  yonder  !  And  thus  it 
always  is  ;  in  the  years  when  we  love  and  are  made  to  be 
loved,  we  go  on  blind  as  the  bat  at  noonday,  unforeseeing  as 
the  grub  that  gleams  into  wings  and  radiance  by  the  action 
of  the  amorous  air.  And  so,  with  the  yawning  gulf  of 
treachery,  barely  closed  in  the  lurid  horizon  behind  him, 
Trajan  tramps  over  the  green  fields,  under  the  clustering 
blossoms,  with  a  heart  light  as  the  spray  that  plays  on  the 
wave,  and  a  happiness  deep  as  the  depths  that  shelter  its 
infinite  mysteries,  tragedies,  and  riches.  Deep  and  lasting 
emotions  thrive  on  silence,  I  think.  At  all  events,  the  two 
were  quite  content  to  walk  along,  only  occasionally  breaking 
silence  with  the  most  absurd  commonplaces,  which  to  record 
would  only  give  the  reader  a  poorer  opinion  of  the  young 


THE  RA  VINE  OF  R  EVE  CHE.  267 

man,  while  Edith,  as  is  the  prerogative  of  the  sex,  may  be 
as  sweetly  inane  as  she  pleases.  Trajan,  of  course,  knowing 
the  path,  was  free  to  look  in  his  companion's  eyes  and  she — 
obliged  to  find  out  the  beauties  he  was  perpetually  apostro 
phizing — was  naturally  compelled  to  look  into  his  eyes  to  see 
what  he  was  looking  at.  Beside  the  brook  of  Reveche 
grew  clusters  of  star-like  marguerites,  and  what  should  enter 
into  Edith's  perverse  head  but  to  pluck  a  handful  and  ask 
him  to  name  one  while  she  named  the  other. 

"  Shall  we  tell  it  in  French  ?  I  like  the  French  words  the 
best,"  said  Edith  with  a  maiden's  right  to  disregard  gram 
mar  for  emphasis. 

"  Tell  what  ?  "  says  Philander,  stupidly  holding  the  flower 
to  his  lips. 

"Why,  did  you  never  say  the  litany  of  the  marguerite  ?  " 
asked  Miss  Innocence  with  wide,  questioning  eyes. 

"  No,  1  never  did — teach  it  to  me  !  " 

"Well — you — name  the  girl  you  want  to  marry — to  your 
self,  you  know,"  adds  Miss  Mentor  blushing,  in  altogether 
surprising  confusion. 

"  To  marry — to  myself  ?  "  echoes  Trajan,  puzzledly. 

"  Oh,  dear  me,  how  obtuse  you  are.  I  mean,  think  to  your 
self  of  the  name  of  the  lady  you  would  like  to  marry,  then 
name  the  flower  by  her  name." 

"  But,  I  don't  want  to  marry  any  one,"  stammers  Philan 
der  reflectively,  as  though  such  an  idea  had  never  kept  him 
in  months  of  delicious  torture,  and  he  had  not  lain  awake 
weeks  o'  nights  dreaming  of  the  possibility. 

Confounded  by  this  contradiction  of  words  and  acts,  the 
astonished  vestal  of  the  floral  mysteries  drew  back  and 
became  so  preoccupied  in  a  militant  snail  rearing  its  horns 
under  a  wild  pink,  that  she  quite  forgot  the  marguerites  and 
their  symbolic  purpose.  Trajan  wondered  why  her  cheeks 
were  so  red,  and  felt  a  pang  at  having  wandered  so  far.  She 
was  fatigued  by  such  a  walk.  They  must  sit  down  and 
recover  lost  energies. 


268  TRAJAN. 

"  Don't  you  feel  tired  ?  We  have  walked  fully  two  miles. 
I  shouldn't  have  come  so  far,  but  I  saw  Bella  and  Hector 
pushing  on  towards  the  Rothschild  farm  up  on  the  hill 
yonder.  Come,"  he  added,  as  if  inspired  by  a  new  zeal, 
"  tell  me  the  mystery  of  the  marguerites.  I'm  surprised  that 
I  have  never  heard  it,  for  I  have  plucked  bales  of  them 
about  Crecy." 

"  But  people  only  learn  the  mystery  when  they  want  to 
find  out  whom  they  are  going  to  marry,"  and  as  Edith  was 
still  studying  the  movements  of  the  snail  her  blushes  became 
still  more  a  matter  of  surprise  to  the  dull  Philander. 

"  Well,  then,  I  shall  not  be  apt  to  learn,  as  I  don't  know 
any  one  I  want  to  marry,"  and  he  pulled  the  unoffending 
leaves  from  their  velvet  cushion  with  a  movement  that  would 
have  meant  conviction  if  the  hands  had  not  shown  a  tell 
tale  tremble. 

"  That  is  the  most  extraordinary  thing  I  ever  heard.  Why 
even  Elliot  wanted  to  marry  ever  so  many  years  ago.  It 
was  the  governess.  But  he  was  quite  miserable  about  it, 
until  papa  got  him  a  pony.  Then  when  he  was  in  Harvard 
he  frightened  us  all  by  falling  in  love  with  one  of  the 
dancing  young  women  in  the  English  troupe.  He  really 
proposed  to  her,  but  papa  managed  to  break  it  off." 

"  No,"  said  Trajan,  reflectively,  as  though  deeply 
impressed  with  these  fragile  amours  of  his  friend,  "  I  never 
thought  I  should  like  to  marry  an  actress,  or  a  schoolmis 
tress.  I  did  ask  a  woman  I  believed  to  be  an  angel  to 
marry  me,  and  she  proved  to  be  a  monster  !  " 

"  A  monster  !  "  stammered  Edith,  shrinking  back. 

"  Ah,  I  mean  a  worldly  monster,  selfish,  cruel,  and 
heartless." 

"  And  " — timidly — "  was  that  long  ago  ?  " 

"  As  time  is  counted,  no.  As  feelings  count,  a  thousand 
years." 

"  Then  you  no  longer  love  her,"  added  the  pertinacious 
catechiser. 


THE  RA  VINE  OF  REVECHE.  269 

"  Love  her,"  said  Trajan,  and  an  expression  almost 
malignantly  contemptuous  came  into  his  face  ;  then  he  added 
in  a  firm  voice,  "  No,  the  very  sight  of  her  is  a  burden  to 
me.  But  don't  let  us  talk  any  more  of  that.  I  have  buried 
it  now.  If  you  feel  equal  to  another  half  mile  we  can  join 
your  cousin  by  the  ravine  of  Reveche,  where  there  is  a  mys 
tic  spring  to  show  you." 

Edith  had  another  question  ready,  but  the  last  words 
stopped  it.  "When  you  find  the  girl  you  want  to  marry,  I 
will  teach  you  the  rubric  of  the  marguerite." 

"  Meanwhile  I  may  keep  this  one  to  see  if  I  can  solve  the 
mystery  by  my  own  efforts — may  I  not  ?  "  And  quite  un 
abashed  the  impudent  fellow  put  it  calmly  in  his  vest  pocket. 
With  this  they  set  out  toward  the  ravine.  Edith  found  a  dis 
tant  object  very  interesting  at  the  moment,  and  of  course  did 
not  see  the  fate  of  the  flower,  nor  meet  the  expression  in  the 
silly  fellow's  eye.  Then  silence  fell  upon  them  again.  They 
had  quit  the  fields  and  emerged  into  an  embowered  path 
under  the  deep  shadow  of  a  rocky  palisade. 

The  rocky  facade  was  almost  as  regular  as  the 
wall  of  a  temple,  the  edge  above  jutting  out  in  tables  of 
cliff  trellised  with  fringes  of  mosses  and  growing  things. 
Pointing  to  a  shelf  projecting  further  over  their  heads  than 
the  others,  Trajan  recounted  its  legend.  In  ancient  times  a 
troubadour  had  sung  love  into  the  heart  of  the  radiant 
maiden,  whose  stern  parent,  the  fierce  old  duke,  owned  all 
the  land  as  far  as  Meaux.  The  luckless  lad  was  caught 
under  my  lady's  window  and  hurled  from  the  shelf  above 
and  fell  where  a  quaint  tablet  records  the  sad  little  story.  Tra 
jan  pushed  the  vines  aside  and  Edith  read  the  epitaph  "  Les 
Amants  Malheureux"  She  drew  back  with  a  little  shudder 
as  though  she  felt  the  warm  blood  of  the  lovers  under  her 
feet. 

"  The  peasants  say  that  the  boy's  blood  comes  up  in  these 
little  patches  of  scarlet,  that  glow  in  the  deep  green  like  eyes 
of  fire,"  said  Trajan,  plucking  a  sprig  of  CEillet  and  handing 


270  TRAJAN. 

it  to  her.  A  few  minutes  further  on,  they  came  to  the  mouth 
of  the  ravine  of  Reveche,  where  the  great  front  of  cliff 
frowned  like  a  vast  tablet  in  the  solid  rock.  The  opening 
was  filled  with  monster  oaks  and  a  tangled  filmy  veil  of 
shrubbery.  A  slender  stream  fell  in  a  score  of  cascades 
over  the  mossy  stones.  The  young  people  penetrated 
into  the  fissure,  the  ravine  taking  the  aspect  of  a  vernal 
cathedral. 

"  Here,"  said  Trajan,  as  they  came  to  a  grotto,  embowered 
under  tangled  tresses  of  vines,  is  '  La  source  de  la  fidelite." 
The  waters  of  the  faithful.  The  legend  is  that  those  who 
clasp  hands  in  the  water  will  never  break  faith  ;  a  man  will 
lay  down  his  life  and  sacrifice  every  thing  for  the  friend  he 
has  made  the  compact  with.  On  Sundays  peasant  lovers 
come  here  in  great  numbers." 

Edith  looked  at  the  spring.  The  surface  was  still  and 
brackish.  The  mosses  growing  at  the  edge  dipped  their 
green  filaments  in  the  water.  As  the  light  fluctuated  by  the 
movements  of  the  swaying  branches,  the  little  pool  took  on 
a  blood-red  hue  that  rather  startled  the  young  girl. 

"It  looks  like  blood,"  she  murmured. 

"  Shall  we  swear  fidelity  ?  "  asked  Trajan,  bending  over  the 
water. 

"  If  you  like,"  answered  Edith  in  curiosity. 

"  Kneel  down,  as  I  am  now  kneeling,  on  the  moss  there. 
Now  give  me  your  hand." 

The  two  hands  were  clasped  under  the  water.  "  What, 
are  you  frightened  ? "  asked  Trajan  as  he  felt  her  hand 
tremble. 

"  No,  but  our  hands  look  as  if  they  were  in  blood.  It  is 
a  Druid  ceremonial,  I  think." 

"  No,  nothing  so  serious  as  that  ;  it  is  very  pretty.  Now- 
repeat  the  vow  when  I  put  it  in  English,  which  doesn't  improve 
it  ;  you  mustn't  interrupt  the  formula  to  ask  questions  while 
we  are  repeating  the  words." 

"But  it  may  be  something    I  can't  subscribe  to." 


THE  RA  VINE  OF  RE  VECHE.  271 

"  Ah,  vows  of  faith  bind  lightly,  a  coquette  might  take 
them.     Have  no  fear.     The  fairies  alone  are  witnesses. 


tlxe  fxatxtf  ilxat  wields  tlxe 
tlxe  tjcrtx^xxe  tfxat  jspaTve  tlxe 
*$$%  the  sta*s  tlxat  *xxle  afrowe, 
gxr  glxee  atttf  $Mtter  §  fteve 
I£ixx01xtlxj  f  aitlx  attrt 

,  a*  maid,  *v  Icrxrev—  we 
tlxr  sxueav  fxxleUttj." 

Edith  repeated  the  lines  tremulously.  When  it  was  done, 
Trajan  held  the  dripping  hand  of  his  companion  and  gravely 
dried  it  with  the  soft  silky  mosses. 

"  There,  oh  maid  of  little  faith,  the  ceremony  is  done.  The 
vow  is  entered  by  the  Ariel  of  the  glade,  sealed  by  the  signs 
that  rule  the  hour,  as  the  verse  hath  it,  meaning  the  star  of 
the  season  in  the  heavens.  The  rite  arose  long  ago,  as 
you  see  by  the  words,  and  the  phraseology  hardly  fits  these 
unknightly  times  and  skeptic  inhumanities." 

"  It  is  a  pretty  legend  and  I  am  glad  we  have  followed 
the  custom  of  the  country,  though  I'm  afraid  we  shall  be 
laughed  at  if  we  tell  it  at  home." 

"  Ah,  you  shall  see  them  all  going  through  with  it,  even  the 
sardonic  Miss  Me  Nair,  if  we  can  inveigle  her  to  the  spot, 
and  I  mean  to  try,"  said  Trajan,,  laughing,  as  he  conjured 
the  fantastic  figure  of  the  spinster  on  the  mossy  margin  of  the 
pool. 

"  Now  for  an  Alpine  climb.  Do  you  feel  equal  to  it  ? 
When  we  reach  the  top  we  shall  be  on  an  open  plateau,  with 
a  short  cut  home  through  pretty  farm  roads  and  wheat 
fields."  Yes,  the  young  enthusiast  felt  equal  to  any  effort. 
The  waters  of  the  spring  had  distilled  the  elixir  of  iron  into 
her  veins  and  she  could  almost  fly,  she  felt  so  buoyant. 
The  ascent  grew  more  and  more  difficult.  The  path  wound 
upward  in  narrow  zigzags,  where  the  gorge  grew  wider,  the 
undergrowth  thicker,  and  the  scene  wilder  and  more  fascin- 


272  TRAJAN. 

ating.  As  they  pushed  onward  they  startled  flocks  of  birds 
from  their  retreats  in  the  wild  wood,  which  scuttled  off  with  a 
noisy  whirr,  filling  the  dim  recesses  with  strange  cries  and 
shrill  clamors.  The  two  toilers  climbed  up  slowly,  the 
path  growing  so  narrow  and  obstructed  with  thick  brambles 
and  low  hanging  branches  that  Trajan  had  to  go  before  and 
aid  his  companion  to  climb.  A  half  hour's  merry  scram 
bling  brought  them  out  on  the  plateau,  where  cultivated 
fields  spread  out  before  them,  separated  from  the  gorge  by  a 
thick  fringe  of  scrub  oak  and  dogwood  in  snowy  bloom. 
Greatly  fatigued  Edith  sat  down  on  the  grass,  pulling  the 
branches  of  the  dogwood  down  to  despoil  them  of  their 
blossoms. 

"Yonder  across  the  ravine,"  said  Trajan,  pointing  to  the 
open  field  to  their  right,  "are  the  farms  of  the  Rothschild. 
This  is  the  narrowest  point  of  the  chasm,  and  above  us  the 
tube  you  see  spanning  the  breach  is  a  conduit  pipe  to  carry 
the  water  used  in  irrigating  the  fields.  If  you  will  stand  up 
you  can  see  the  farm-houses  and  cow-stables  of  the  baron. 
Our  friends  will  come  out  on  that  side,  as  they  took  the 
upper  road,  crossing  the  bridge  a  little  way  ahead  of  us, 
concealed  by  the  bushes." 

Edith  approached  the  edge  of  the  abyss,  but  turned  back 
dizzy.  The  cliffs  were  as  sharply  cut  as  walls,  as  she  could 
see  on  the  other  side  where  the  solid  rock  went  almost 
straight  downward  hundreds  of  feet,  with  here  and  there  an 
adventurous  bush  jutting  out  straight  from  the  granite  and 
emphasizing  its  bare  appalling  surface. 

"Shall  we  wait  here  until  we  see  our  friends  on  the  other 
side,  or  shall  we  move  onward  and  look  for  them  ?  "  said 
Trajan,  glancing  toward  the  farm  buildings  in  the  distance. 

Before  Edith  could  respond  they  were  startled  by  a  shriek, 
followed  by  a  hoarse  roar.  They  directed  their  eyes  to  the 
fields  on  the  other  side,  but  could  see  no  one.  A  shriek, 
this  time  faint,  and  apparently  just  behind  the  rim  of  strag 
gling  bushes,  set  their  hearts  beating  wildly.  Trajan  started 


THE  RA  VINE  OF  REVECHE.  273 

toward  the  bridge  a  mile  or  more  above  ;  but  just  as  he 
turned  Edith  gasped  : 

"  It  is  Bella  !  " 

Trajan  turned  transfixed.  Bella  was  visible,  making  for 
the  chasm,  some  one  half-supporting  her  as  she  came  on  ex- 
haustedly.  Edith  could  not  imagine  what  they  were  flying 
from,  but  Trajan  knew  only  too  well,  and  his  heart  in  the 
horror  of  the  moment  fairly  ceased  to  beat.  It  was  too  late 
for  him  to  reach  them  by  the  bridge,  and  even  the  gulf  was 
a  danger  which  they  might  not  suspect. 

As  the  flying  figures  came  on,  Trajan,  standing  on  the 
very  verge  of  the  precipice,  shouted  : 

"  Take  to  the  trees — don't  approach  too  near  the  chasm." 
Then  as  he  recognized  Hector,  added  in  a  clear  confident 
tone — "  get  between  Miss  Briscoe  and  the  animal  and  make 
him  follow  you — fling  your  hat  at  him." 

Bella  recognized  Trajan,  gasped  something  that  could  not 
be  heard,  and  sank  exhausted  to  the  ground.  Hector  made 
an  effort  to  lift  her,  but  looking  behind  him,  saw  the  bull 
lowering  his  head  to  strike.  He  rose,  flung  his  hat  at  the 
animal,  and  made  toward  a  clump  of  stunted  oaks  near  the 
edge  of  the  cliff.  Whether  in  fear  or  by  calculation,  it  was 
the  wisest  thing  he  could  have  done.  The  animal  turning 
from  Bella,  rushed  at  Hector  with  a  loud  bellow.  He  came 
on,  his  head  lowered,  his  eyes  flaming,  his  nostrils  covered 
with  foam. 

Trajan  meanwhile  had  flung  off  his  coat,  and  charging 
Edith  to  have  no  fear,  ran  to  the  water  conduit  and  seizing 
it  with  his  hands  and  legs,  slipped  underneath  it  and  began 
to  pass  rapidly  across,  "  hand  over  hand,"  as  a  sailor  clam 
bers  underneath  a  rope.  Edith  looked  on  in  a  terror 
of  fascination.  The  distance  was  hardly  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet,  but  the  time  seemed  an  eternity.  Half  way  in  the 
transit  her  heart  sank  in  sickening  horror.  The  frail  pipe 
sagged  and  swayed  under  the  heavy  weight  and  regular 
movements  of  hands  and  legs.  The  climber  had  reached 


274  TRAJAN. 

the  center  safely  when  a  loud  wrenching  sound  told  that  the 
iron  had  snapped.  Edith  closed  her  eyes  and  sank  to  the 
ground.  She  looked  again,  desperately,  to  see  the  poor 
fellow's  body  tumbling  into  the  black  deep,  hundreds  of 
feet  below.  No— by  heavens,  the  stout  iron,  though  wrenched 
at  the  joints,  was  still  unbroken.  The  enormous  sag,  how 
ever,  makes  the  progress  more  difficult,  and  he  has  much 
climbing  and  crawling  during  the  last  stage  of  the  journey. 

In  another  instant,  Edith  sobs  with  joy  as  Trajan's  head 
touches  the  jagged  edge  of  the  rock.  He  scrambles  to  his 
feet  with  the  swiftness  of  an  acrobat  and  is  at  Bella's  side  in 
a  flash.  He  has  his  stout  painter's  blade  in  his  hand,  and 
as  the  bull  chases  Hector  about  the  bushes,  he  seizes  Bella 
and  drags  her  a  few  steps,  to  the  gnarled  roots  of  an  old 
stump,  covered  with  running  vines.  The  bull,  quitting 
Hector  who  has  the  advantage  of  the  bushes,  makes  for  the 
new  comer  in  frantic  plunges.  Trajan  tempts  him  to  the 
side  of  the  stump  to  Bella's  left,  and  as  he  comes  on,  leaps 
upon  it,  with  his  knife  in  his  hand.  But  the  bull's  impetus 
carries  him  clear  beyond  and  over  the  stump.  Trajan  shouts 
to  Hector  to  distract  the  beast  in  a  direction  opposite  Bella. 

Hector  obeys  and  sets  up  a  clamor.  The  monster,  discon 
certed  for  a  moment,  is  uncertain  which  to  go  at,  but  Trajan 
being  nearest,  he  snorts  viciously  and  with  a  savage  bellow 
dashes  at  the  intruder.  Trajan  shouts  to  Hector  to  try  and 
get  Bella  to  the  bushes.  He  braces  himself  on  the  jagged 
surface  of  the  stump  and  bends  forward  slightly.  He  has 
the  advantage  of  the  beast,  for  if  it  leaps  up  to  strike  him, 
he  can  dodge,  and  if  it  keep  its  head  lowered  to  rip  him, 
the  impetus  of  the  rush  will  be  lost.  Bellowing  and  snorting 
the  enemy  comes  on — with  his  head  down  and  his  flaming 
eyesfairlybursting  from  their  sockets.  But  the  stumpstops  the 
force  of  his  start  and  he  is  obliged  to  pause.  Trajan  has 
seen  bull  fights  in  Spain  and  knows  the  value  of  self-posses 
sion. 

As  the  bull  raises  himself  on  the  ddbris,  he  slips  to  one 


THE  RAVINE  OF  REVECHE.  275 

side,  and  as  the  beast  clears  the  stump,  runs  his  knife  to 
the  hilt  in  the  swelling  throat.  The  sharp  horn  in  passing, 
however,  has  ripped  Trajan's  arm  badly,  but  in  his  excitement 
the  young  man  does  not  feel  it.  Bella's  danger  is  now 
imminent,  for  the  roaring  monster  is  within  a  few  feet  of  her. 
Trajan  leaps  from  the  stump  and  with  a  loud  outcry  keeps 
the  bull's  attention  fixed  upon  himself.  The  blood  is  pouring 
in  a  thick  stream  from  the  gashed  neck.  Trajan  makes  a 
rush  and  gets  hold  of  the  head  and  horns  and  thrusts  the 
blade  rapidly  into  the  part  of  the  neck  where  the  Toreador's 
stroke  gives  the  death  wound.  The  blood  follows  in  great 
gouts,  but  the  vital  point  is  not  reached.  He  shakes  him 
self  clear  of  Trajan's  feeble  grasp,  and  half  blinded  by  the 
blood  and  mad  with  anguish  darts  toward  Bella.  But 
Trajan  has  been  mindful  of  that  peril  and  has  kept  on  the 
guard  side  of  her.  He  again  slips  in  on  the  beast  and  has 
him  by  the  horns,  his  knife  having  slipped  from  his  hands. 

"  You  must  give  me  a  hand  now,  Hector,  I'm  nearly  done 
for — get  a  handful  of  sand  and  pebbles  and  fling  them  into 
his  eyes,  while  I  divert  him." 

In  the  struggle  man  and  beast  have  gotten  to  some  distance 
from  Bella.  She  strives  to  rise,  but  the  deadly  fascination 
of  the  scene  chains  her  to  the  ground.  Hector  comes  up 
with  his  hat  filled  with  sand.  Trajan  makes  a  last  desperate 
wrench.  The  animal's  head  is  forced  down  and  the  sand 
flung  with  all  Hector's  strength  into  the  flaming  eyes. 
Trajan  has  relinquished  his  hold  and  flees  to  Bella,  drags 
her  almost  to  the  bushes,  then  sinks  down  limp  and  help 
less.  The  beast,  maddened  and  blind,  is  no  longer  able  to 
make  out  his  adversaries  and  sinks  on  his  knees  weltering  in 
gore.  As  Bella  calls  Hector  to  help  Trajan,  two  keepers 
armed  with  ropes  and  stout  pikes  come  up.  They  lift 
Trajan.  He  is  a  mass  of  blood,  some  of  it  his  own.  His 
vest  hangs  in  fragments.  His  shirt  is  a  dabbled  rag.  His 
right  side  is  pierced  in  several  places  by  the  horns.  A 
draught  from  Hector's  brandy  flask  revives  him  and  he  asks 


276  TRAJAN. 

if  the  bull  is  gone.  The  keepers  answer  him  that  there  is 
no  further  danger.  Bella  stands  beside  the  young  man  in 
shuddering  fear. 

"  By  George,  Gray,"  cries  Hector,  "  you  are  enough  to 
frighten  any  one — look  at  yourself — are  you  hurt  ?  My  God, 
Gray,  you  are  badly  hurt,"  he  exclaimed,  as  Trajan's  face 
grew  ghastly  even  through  the  blood. 

"  No,  I'm  all  right,  a  few  flesh  wounds,  nothing  serious  " 
— but  his  limbs  began  to  sink  under  him  and  he  staggered 
to  the  famous  stump  and  rested  gasping  with  pain  and  ex 
haustion.  The  bull  had  meanwhile  been  mastered,  and  one 
of  the  men  came  forward  touching  his  hat  to  Hector. 

"Bring  the  gentleman  and  lady  to  the  farm  and  we  will  do 
what  we  can." 

"  The  'gentleman  can't  walk  —  he's  badly  gored  by  the 
bull." 

"We  can  carry  him  between  us,"  said  the  man  readily. 

Trajan  had  risen  and  was  waving  his  handkerchief  to 
Edith  on  the  other  side. 

"  Hector,  just  run  to  the  edge  of  the  cliff  and  tell  Miss 
Arden  she  can  join  us  by  going  a  distance  up  the  path  she 
is  on.  She  will  come  to  the  bridge  and  we  will  wait  for  her 
there."  Then  he  directed  the  man  to  give  his  attention  to 
the  lady  as  he  was  not  in  condition  to  approach  her.  Bella 
had  by  this  time  recovered  in  body  and  in  mind  and  came 
forward  as  Trajan  spoke. 

"  I'm  sorry,"  he  said,  smiling  ruefully,  "  that  I  must  keep 
you  in  mind  of  this  business — for  a  little  while,  but  I  will 
send  you  home  by  one  of  the  farm  men.  I'm  afraid  I  can't 
go  on  just  yet." 

He  gasped  this,  forcing  himself  to  make  lightly  of  it, 
though  he  felt  heavy  and  numb  with  loss  of  blood  and  pain 
from  the  gashed  flesh.  His  clothes  were  torn  to  shreds  about 
his  body,  and  what  was  not  torn  was  a  mere  clot  of  blood. 

"  You  hardly  need  to  make  apologies,  Mr.  Gray,  for  your 
appearance — I — I — will  not  leave  you  until  I  see  your 


THE  RA  VINE  OF  RE  VECHE.  2  7  7 

wounds  dressed  and  yourself  in  a  conveyance  homeward." 
Then  turning  to  the  men,  she  said  :  "  don't  you  see  this 
gentleman  is  unfit  to  stand.  Carry  him  gently  to  the 
farm  and  let  us  hasten."  It  was  none  too  soon,  for 
Trajan  had  sunk — limp  and  lifeless,  to  the  ground.  Bella 
thought  the  journey  would  never  end.  But  in  a  little  more 
than  a  half  hour  the  cortege  arrived  at  the  farm-house. 
The  blood-stained  clothing  was  removed,  Bella  herself  insist 
ing  on  helping.  The  body  was  frightfully  torn,  but  no 
deep  wound  could  be  discovered  when  the  blood  was  washed 
away.  Tender  hands  soothed  and  bound  the  gashes  up,  and 
under  a  strong  dose  of  brandy  the  young  man  came  back  to 
consciousness.  He  looked  surprised,  and  to  Bella's  aston 
ishment  asked,  almost  in  a  vexed  tone  : 

"Where  is  Miss  Arden  ?  She  was  to  have  met  us  at  the 
bridge  as  we  came  here.  Hector,  for  God's  sake  go  and  see 
what  has  happened  to  her.  Give  me  any  thing  you  have 
that  I  can  wear,  I  can't  stand  this.  I  must  see  for  myself — " 

"  Pray  be  calm,  Mr.  Gray,"  pleaded  Bella,  startled  at  the 
vehemence  of  the  wounded  man.  "  No  harm  can  happen  to 
my  cousin.  The  bull  that  attacked  us  was  in  the  field  by 
the  merest  accident.  The  keeper  informs  me  that  all  the 
stock  are  locked  in  a  double  walled  paddock.  Besides, 
Edith  is  home  by  this  time." 

"It  may  be  true,"  answered  Trajan,  doggedly,  "but  I 
shall  be  in  torments  until  I  see  the  poor  child  safe  as  she 
came  from  her  brother's  side —  If  you  can't  give  me  any 
thing  to  wear  I  will  go  as  I  am — Hurry,  I  implore  you." 

Along  pelisse  of  a  soft  fabric  was  produced,  and  wrapping 
himself  in  it,  Trajan  dragged  himself  from  the  bed,  where 
the  kind  farmer-folk  had  laid  him.  A  common  country 
cart  was  standing  in  the  yard  ready  harnessed. 

"  I  will  come  to  see  you  again,  my  good  friends,"  said 
Trajan,  shaking  the  hands  of  the  wondering  farmers.  "  You 
will  accompany  me,  will  you  not,  Miss  Briscoe — or  can  you 
stand  such  a  rough  vehicle  ?  " 


278  TRAJAN. 

11  Why,  Mr.  Gray,  what  a  question — how  could  I  leave 
you  in  such  a  moment  ?  " 

With  the  aid  of  the  peasants  the  young  man  was  bestowed 
painfully  in  the  cart,  but  he  could  not  maintain  himself  in 
the  seat,  and  some  blankets  were  stretched  on  the  boards. 
Bella  got  on  the  seat  beside  the  farmer  and  the  vehicle  shot 
off,  Trajan  heroically  repressing  a  groan  at  each  jolt.  Bella 
told  the  man  where  to  drive.  As  they  neared  the  bridge 
they  overtook  Hector,  but  Bella  made  him  a  sign  to  say 
nothing,  and  as  they  passed,  she  bent  over  whispering: 
"  Look  out  for  Edith — we  shall  not  stop,  but  hurry  home 
ward,  where  I  presume  we  shall  find  her." 

Trajan,  as  Bella  had  discovered,  was  again  unconscious,  and 
if  he  had  not  been  the  high  side-boards  would  have  hidden 
Hector  from  view.  The  ride  home  was  long,  and  to  Bella 
an  ordeal  of  the  most  painful  character.  She  did  not 
know  whether  it  was  a  corpse  or  a  live  man  that  she  was  to 
set  down  at  Les  Charmettes.  Then  her  mind  misgave  her 
about  Edith.  She  had  been  firm  in  the  conviction  -that  her 
cousin  had  taken  the  road  from  the^) ridge  homeward — it  was 
long  but  not  difficult.  Then  she  shuddered  as  she  thought 
the  frightened  girl  might  have  made  a  mis-step  and  gone  over 
the  precipice.  As  they  came  within  sight  of  the  house  a 
landau,  which  she  recognized  as  her  aunt's,  came  furiously 
toward  them.  Claridge  was  on  the  seat  with  the  driver,  and 
then  Bella  knew  that  Edith  was  safe.  Sure  enough,  she 
with  Miss  McNair  looked  out  as  they  heard  the  vehicle. 
Claridge  leaped  down  and  ran  to  the  cart. 

"  Miss  Briscoe,  are  you  really  unhurt,  are  you  really  safe  ? 
Heavens — you  are  covered  with  blood." 

"  Perfectly  well  and  unhurt ;  I  wish  I  could  say  the  same 
for  Mr.  Gray,"  she  said  tremblingly — "  I'm  afraid  he  is 
cruelly — dangerously  hurt — " 

"  Dangerously — Bella — what  can  you  mean  ?  "  cried  Edith, 
who  had  alighted — "  Did — did  the  animal  attack  him 
again  ?  He  was  well  when  I  left — but  where  is  he  ? "  A  long 


THE  RAVINE  OF  REVECHE.  279 

moan  from  within  the  cart  answered  the  question  as  Bella 
put  her  fingers  to  her  lips.  Claridge  got  up  and  looked 
in.  His  face  was  very  grave  as  he  leaped  down. 

"  This  is  bad  work — very  bad  work."  He  shook  his  head 
sadly  and  motioned  the  driver  to  move  on.  He  took 
his  place  on  the  seat,  while  Bella  got  into  the  landau 
with  the  others.  A  stretcher  was  improvised  from  the 
chairs  on  the  lawn,  and  the  mangled  form  of  the  young  man 
was  carried  through  the  shuddering  crowd  of  guests  and 
servants  into  the  house,  up  the  stairs,  and  laid  upon  his  own 
bed. 

"Oh,  my  darling,"  sobbed  Mrs.  Briscoe,  as  she  clung  to 
Bella,  "what  you  have  suffered  ;  what  a  Providence  !  " 

"  Yes,  mamma — think  rather  of  that  young  hero — in  the 
agony  of  death,  and  all  through  my  folly." 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Bella — through  your  folly  ? — It  was 
not  your  fault  that  the  beast  attacked  you,  and  any  man 
would  have  done  as  much — " 

"  Hush,  mother — don't  talk  like  that  to  me,  or  you  will 
make  me  show  you  how  wicked  I  am,  and  it's  better  that 
you  shouldn't  know  ;  and  as  for  any  man  doing  what  that 
man  did — there  was  one  man  there  before  him  and  he  didn't 
do  it — there  is  not  one  man  in  ten  thousand  that  would  have 
attempted  what  Mr.  Gray  did,  and  there  isn't  one  in  ten 
thousand  that  could  have  succeeded,  having  attempted  it." 

"  But,  my  child,  do  you  see  what  a  sight  you  are  ?  "  cried 
the  mother,  suddenly  noticing  that  Bella's  dress  was  a  coat 
of  blood  and  mud.  Bella  looked  at  herself  and  saw  for  the 
first  time  the  marks  of  the  combat.  She  was  faint  and  sank 
into  a  chair.  Her  mother  summoning  the  servants  directed 
them  to  carry  her  to  her  room.  It  was  not  until  she  had 
stripped  with  her  own  hands  and  examined  her  child's  body 
that  she  could  convince  herself  that  she  had  escaped 
unscathed. 

"  This  has  been  an  unlucky  house  for  us  so  far,  I  tremble 
to  think  of  the  next  disaster.  Is  Mr.  Gray  seriously  hurt  ? 


2&>  TRAJAN. 

Were  his  wounds  examined  at  the  farm  ? "  But  Bella  lay 
quite  still  in  the  bed  and  Mrs.  Briscoe  fancying  that  she  was 
dropping  to  sleep,  stepped  softly  into  her  own  room. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

''HOME  THEY  BROUGHT  HER  WARRIOR  DEAD." 

THE  disasters  of  the  afternoon  had  been  by  Mrs.  Arden's 
command  concealed  from  her  son.  That  robustious 
invalid,  unconscious  of  his  danger,  was  drinking  from  the 
intoxicating  cup  which  Theo  came  every  afternoon  and 
morning  to  hold  to  his  ready  lips.  Time  had  been  when 
Elliot  would  have  scouted  the  idea  of  receiving  joy  from 
any  flacon  not  held  in  Bella's  ministering  hands,  and  he  rel 
ished  it  all  the  more  that  the  priestess  was  cold  and  coy 
and  unready  to  pour  out  the  nectar.  Bella's  visits  to  the  sick 
room  were  short  and  almost  perfunctory.  She  was  like  all  the 
Ardens,  tender  to  the  suffering  and  patient  with  the  afflicted, 
but  her  ancient  gayety  responded  no  more  to  the  young  man's 
artful  lurings.  She  replied  in  a  soft  voice  and  with  unequiv 
ocal  directness  to  his  most  teasing  gibes.  Elliot  was  a  good 
deal  puzzled,  but  confined  to  his  room  he  could  not  arrive 
at  a  suggestion  even  of  the  mystery.  Theo  could  have  ex 
plained  a  good  deal  to  him,  but  though  she  chattered 
briskly  on  every  possible  subject  that  might  divert  him, 
Bella's  name  was  never  mentioned  between  them.  He  had 
brought  up  Trajan  often  and  his  growing  tenderness  for  his 
protege  was  not  diminished  when  she  interposed  with  hearty 
emphasis : 

"  Trajan  Gray  is  the  noblest  nature  in  the  whole  world." 

The  yellow  sunlight  was  lingering  in  great  plashes  on  the 

floor  when  Edith,  too  restless  to  remain  in  her  own  room, 

came   to   her   brother's.     Theo,    who  was  reading  Maggie 

Tulliver's   enforced   flight  with  Philip  from  "  The   Mill   on 


"  HOME  THE  Y  BRO  UGH T  HER   WARRIOR. "      281 

the  Floss,"  closed  the  book  as  Edith  sat  down  beside  her 
brother. 

"Did  you  have  a  long  walk,  Neddy?"  a  name  Elliot 
called  her  when  fraternally  tender — "  you  look  frightfully 
used  up — why  you  must  have  walked  to  Romain  !"  he  ex 
claimed,  as  he  drew  her  head  down  and  looked  closely  at 
her  ;  "  and  you  have  been  crying — your  eyes  are  red — yes — 
I  knew  it,  you  are  in  a  fever — what  does  this  mean  !  " 

"  Yes,  I  have  walked  a  great  distance,  and  I  do  feel  a 
little  tired,"  she  said,  resolutely  restraining  her  tears. 

Elliot  was  alarmed.  He  knew  his  sister  so  well  that  the 
signs  in  her  face  warned  him  there  was  something  serious. 
He  rang  the  bell. 

"  I  am  going  to  send  for  mother,  and  you  must  go  and  lie 
down." 

"  Yes,  I  think  I  will,"  stammered  the  poor  child,  and  she 
got  up  quietly  and  left  the  room. 

"  You  may  be  sure  something  has  gone  wrong,"  said  Elliot, 
as  Theo  looked  dreamily  out  of  the  window,  making  a  pe 
culiarly  charming  picture  framed  in  the  sun  rays  that  fell  on 
her  dark  complexion. 

"  It  is  quite  sinful  for  me  to  dawdle  here,"  she  rejoined 
with  a  bewitching  smile,  as  she  arose  to  go. 

"  It's  never  wrong  to  comfort  the  afflicted,"  answered 
Elliot.  "  I  should  like  to  have  my  ribs  broken  every  month 
if  it  brought  me  the  same  consolation." 

"  Consolations,  like  afflictions,  never  come  alone,"  retorted 
Theo,  as  her  eye  wandered  to  the  nurse  preparing  a  bolus 
for  the  wounded  hero. 

Elliot  did  not  quite  comprehend  this  epigram,  but 
laughed  as  the  speaker  bade  him  au  revoir. 

Edith  had  quit  Elliot  determined  to  go  to  her  room  and 
lie  down.  As  she  came  into  the  hall,  she  saw  the  doctor 
outside  Trajan's  door  giving  instructions  to  his  assistant. 
She  hurried  forward  and  laid  her  hand  on  his  arm.  He  was 
a  Frenchman,  and  to  the  end  gallant.  He  would  have  sus- 


282  TRAJAN". 

pended  a  surgical  operation  to  pay  a  compliment.  His  keen 
black  eyes  beamed  softly  as  the  pretty  girl  looked  appeal- 
ingly  in  his  face. 

"  Doctor,"  she  stammered  piteously,  "  are  you  afraid- 
do  you  think — is  there  any  danger  ?  " 

There  are  but  two  conjunctures  when  a  Frenchman  feels 
bound  to  tell  the  truth  :  when  it  will  injure  a  rival  and 
swell  his  own  importance.  In  this  case  the  vanity  of  the 
man  overcame  the  prudence  of  the  practitioner.  Taking  the 
young  girl's  hand,  and  soaring  with  unutterable  importance 
as  an  oracle  en  titre,  he  said  almost  jauntily  :  "  Mademoiselle 
— I  don't  permit  myself  to  think.  I  am  unable  to  judge 
and  I  have  telegraphed  to  Paris  for  a  specialist — but  I  would 
not  be  bold  enough  to  even  guess  at  the  result — Ah — "  as 
these  dreadful  words  left  his  lips,  he  repented  his  impru 
dence,  for  if  he  had  not  caught  her  the  girl  would  have 
fallen  to  the  floor. 

"  What  is  it,  doctor — what  ails  Miss  Arden  ? "  asked  Theo 
in  surprise,  coming  up  at  this  moment.  Before  the  doctor 
could  reply,  Mrs.  Arden  came  out  of  Trajan's  room,  and 
seeing  Edith  supported  by  the  physician  darted  forward  : 

"  Edith — Edith — what  has  happened  ?  Edith,  my  child, 
speak  to  me  !  " 

The  doctor  said  hastily  :  "  I  was  imprudent  enough  to 
answer  her  question  about  the  invalid  and  she  swooned" — • 

"  I'm  surprised,  doctor,  that  an  experienced  medical  man 
should  answer  questions  like  these  from  young  girls— 

"  In  Heaven's  name,  Mrs.  Arden,  who  is  hurt  now  ?  " 
asked  Theo  breathlessly.  Edith  straightened  herself  sud 
denly  and  looking  in  the  questioner's  face  said  almost 
harshly,  "  Trajan  Gray  is  in  there  on  his  deathbed."  Theo 
looked  at  the  doctor,  looked  at  Mrs.  Arden.  A  ghastly  hue 
replaced  the  rich  brown  of  her  cheek. 

"  Ah — no — no — don't  say — don't  say  he  has  killed  him 
self — oh — my  God — my  God,  don't  say  it?"  She  stag 
gered  against  the  wall — where  the  doctor,  mystified,  caught 


"HOME   THEY  BROUGHT  HER  WARRIOR."       283 

and  supported  her.  She  broke  from  him  and  confront 
ing  Edith  who  stood  shocked  and  amazed — leaning  on 
her  mother — whispered  hoarsely  :  "  Did  he  kill  himself — or 
—or—"  but  her  voice  died  away  in  a  gasp. 

"  Mademoiselle,"  said  the  doctor  in  astonishment,  "  Mr. 
Gray  is  severely  gored  by  a  bull — how  dangerous  the  wound 
is  cannot  be  known  until  my  confrere  comes  from  Paris. 
Madame  Arden,  your  daughter's  nerves  are  unstrung  from 
the  adventures  of  the  day.  She  should  be  in  bed  and  care 
fully  tended.  I  shall  be  back  after  I  have  obtained  some 
lint,  and  either  myself  or  confrere  will  remain  during  the 
night.  Mr.  Gray  cannot  be  left  a  moment  unguarded."  He 
bowed  and  entered  the  sick  room.  As  he  disappeared  Mrs. 
Arden  turned  to  Theo  and  briefly  recounted  the  events  of 
the  afternoon,  and  then  supporting  Edith  went  to  her  own 
chamber.  Theo  stood  perfectly  still  in  the  same  spot.  The 
ashen  color  deepened  on  her  face.  Her  eyes  softened  to 
humidity,  and  as  they  softened  changed  from  the  greenish- 
yellow  to  dark  gray.  She  leaned  against  the  wall  as  if  quite 
lost  to  all  surroundings.  Here  Clare  found  her  a  minute 
later  as  she  returned  from  a  visit  to  the  Grovels. 

"  Good  heavens,  Theo,  what  has  happened  ?  Come  with 
me  !  "  She  took  the  unresisting  arm  and  led  her  sister  along 
the  wide  hall  to  their  apartment,  and  when  the  door  was 
closed  led  her,  still  unresisting,  to  the  divan  in  the  alcove 
window.  "  Mon  Dieu,  Theo,  you  look  like  death.  Have 
you  been  in  a  faint  ?  Do  speak  to  me.  You'll  drive  me 
wild  with  that  frightful  look  !  " 

"  Trajan  Gray  is  lying  in  his  room  dying — perhaps  dead, 
and  I  drove  him  to  it  !  " 

"  Oh,  Theo,  Theo,  I  implored  you  to  spare  him.  I  im 
plored  you  to  let  him  know  from  the  first.  The  punishment 
is  come  and  we  deserve  it — that  is  the  bitterness,  Theo,  we 
deserve  it.  When  did  this  happen  ? " 

Theo  told  the  story  as  she  had  fceard  it  in  a  hard,  husky 
voice — but  never  the  sign  of  a  tear. 


284  TRAJAN. 

Clare  breathed  a  great  sigh  of  relief — "I  don't  see  how 
you  are  in  the  remotest  way  responsible  for  Trajan's  hurt, 
Theo  ;  I  was  afraid  it  was  something  of  another  sort.  It 
looks  as  if  he  were  in  love  with  Bella.  That's  the  most  rea 
sonable  view  of  the  matter." 

Theo  looked  at  Clare  with  a  flash  of  incredulous  scorn, 
which  changed  into  a  smile  of  dreadful  contempt.  Then 
she  said,  "  Trajan  Gray  is  not  the  sort  of  man  that  forgets 
his  love  in  a  day." 

Clare  staggered  as  if  she  had  been  struck.  Struck  she 
was,  poor  thing,  by  a  weapon  so  terrible  that  none  but  a 
woman  and  sister  could  have  used  it.  She  sank  on  a  chair 
and  covered  her  face  with  her  hands. 

Theo  was  kneeling  at  her  feet  in  an  instant,  kissing  her 
hands  and  pleading  to  be  forgiven. 

"  I  didn't  know  what  I  said,  Clare  ;  oh  Clare,  forgive  me 
— forgive  the  hateful  words.  I  did  not  mean,  oh  I  implore 
you  in  our  mother's  name  to  believe  me — I  had  no  idea  of 
what  I  was  saying,  or  the  meaning  of  it  when  I  said  it — 
upon  my  soul,  Clare.  I  would  not,  could  not  have  been  so 
cruel — for  whom  have  I  to  love  if  not  you  ?  "  and  she  kissed 
the  poor  hands  that  covered  the  stricken  sister's  face.  Clare 
did  not  remove  her  hands,  but  said  tenderly  and  sweetly, 
"  I  believe  you,  Theo,  let  us  say  no  more  about  it.  I  am 
stupidly  sensitive.  There,  dear,"  and  she  bent  over  and 
kissed  the  penitent  head.  The  younger  rose  hastily  from 
her  kneeling  posture  and  Clare  shrank  into  the  embrasure 
of  the  window  as  a  knock  was  heard  at  the  door.  Theo. 
opened  it  and  Jules  stood  before  her. 

"  What  is  this  I  hear  about  Gray  ?  "  he  asked,  panting. 
"One  of  the  Arden  servants  told  us  he  had  been  gored  to 
death  by  a  bull.  I  saw  no  one  as  I  came  in  and  come  to 
you  for  news."  Theo  told  all  she  knew. 

"  A  plucky  fight,"  he  said  scrutinizing  his  sister.  "  Where's 
Clare  ?  Oh,  there  you  are.  I  suppose  this  has  upset  the 
house  again." 


"HOME  THEY  BROUGHl^  HER  WARRIOR"       285 

"Yes,  Mrs.  Arden  is  broken  down.  She  thinks  the 
chateau  is  ruled  by  an  evil  fate,  and  I  declare  it  looks  like 
it,"  added  Theo,  resuming  her  old  tone,  "  though  I  have 
quite  forgotten  my  hurt  arm.  Are  you  going  to  stay  to  din 
ner  ?  "  she  said,  giving  Jules  a  significant  look. 

"  No.  I  will  come  over  immediately  after.  I  imagine 
the  less  intrusion  upon  the  family  now  the  better.  I  must 
go  to  Paris  to-morrow  !  "  As  he  passed  out  he  met  Hector, 
in  traveling  costume,  coming  down  the  hall. 

"  Are  you  off,  Hector  ;  what's  up  ? " 

"  I  have  received  a  telegram  from  my  paper,  directing  me 
to  study  the  German  war  preparations.  I  am  off  on  the 
next  train.  What  a  house  this  is  for  misfortunes  !  How  is 
Gray?" 

"I  didn't  see  him,  but  I  judge  from  my  sister's  report  that 
there  is  small  hope.  You  were  present  at  the  attack  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  the  young  man  answered,  rather  restively.  "  I 
never  witnessed  such  nerve.  There  isn't  a  bull  fighter  in 
Andalusia  would  have  dared  seize  that  brute  as  Gray  did 
— I  own  I  was  helpless — but  if  I  had  had  all  my  wits  about 
me  I  should  have  lost  them  in  watching  his  fight.  It  was 
superb — I'm  going  to  write  it  out  for  my  journal — " 

"Substituting  yourself  for  the  hero,  of  course,"  insinuated 
Jules  blandly — "  au  revoir"  and  before  the  indignant  scribe 
could  fashion  a  rejoinder  he  was  gone.  A  servant  at  the 
same  time  approached  Hector,  saying  : 

"Monsieur  Arden  requests  that  you  will  take  the  trouble 
to'come  to  his  bedside." 

On  entering,  Elliot  looked  surprised  at  seeing  Hector  in 
his  traveling  suit. 

"  Why,  Hector,  you're  not  tired  of  us,  are  you  ?  Can't 
the  rest  of  the  company  make  the  time  pass  while  I'm 
pulling  myself  together?" 

Hector  explained  about  his  journalistic  mission,  and  then 
added  :  "  I  should  like  to  stay  until  Gray's  case  is  decided, 
but  Claridge  has  promised  to  telegraph  me — " 


286  TRAJAN. 

Then  as  Elliot's  wide-open  eyes  and  astonished  expression 
struck  him  he  stopped  abruptly. 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  Gray's  case  ?  Has  any  thing  hap 
pened  him  ?  Where  is  he  ? "  and  the  young  man  started  to 
arise. 

"  Stay,  Arden — you  are  not  fit  to  move  and,  above  all,  you 
are  not  in  a  condition  to  see  what  may  be  over  there," 
pointing  to  Trajan's  room.  "  They  have  thought  best,  I  see, 
not  to  let  you  know  of  the  disaster,  but  further  concealment 
is  useless.  Lie  down  quietly,  and  I  will  tell  you  every  detail." 

It  was  not  without  a  species  of  subdued  enjoyment  that 
the  journalist  rehearsed  the  events  of  the  afternoon,  doing 
unstinted  justice  to  all  the  actors,  it  must  be  owned,  and, 
though  softening  his  own  part,  leaving  no  doubt  of  the  fatal 
termination  to  Bella  had  Trajan  not  appeared  so  op 
portunely. 

"  And  why  did  they  keep  this  from  me  ?  Why  did  they — 
Please  pull  that  bell  cord.  I  can't  of  course  ask  you  to 
stay,  Hector — the  place  seems  fatal — good-by." 

The  servant  entered  as  Hector  answered  this  farewell. 

"  Where  is  my  mother,  Pierre  ? " 

"  Madame  is  in  her  chamber,  with  mademoiselle,  your 
sister." 

"  Very  well,  get  Francois  to  help  you  to  take  me  over  to 
Mr.  Gray's  room." 

The  two  strong  men  carried  the  chair  down  the  long  cor 
ridor  and  entered  Trajan's  room  unannounced.  The  doctor 
was  busied  over  the  wounded  man,  whose  form  was  stretched 
out  nearly  naked  on  an  oiled  silk  sheet,  spread  upon  an 
operating  table.  The  blood  had  been  washed  from  the 
body.  There  were  many  wounds,  most  of  them  stanched 
with  morsels  of  cotton.  The  left  arm  seemed  torn  into 
shreds,  one  of  the  assistants  holding  it,  while  the  doctor 
operated  slowly.  Trajan's  head  rested  on  an  air  pillow.  His 
eyes  were  closed,  and  his  breathing  was  scarcely  perceptible. 
The  entrance  of  Elliot  was  not  remarked  by  the  physician, 


"HOME  THEY  BROUGHT  HER  WARRIOR."         287 

and  waving  the  servants  from  the  room  he  sat  quite  still, 
watching  the  terrible  spectacle.  The  blood-stained  clothes 
lay  in  a  basket  beside  the  table.  Elliot  shuddered  and 
uttered  a  groan.  The  doctor  looked  around  and  asked  in 
astonishment : 

"Why  do  you  come  here,  Monsieur  Arden  ?  this  is  no 
place  for  you,  you  can  do  your  friend  no  good." 

"  Don't  mind  me,  Doctor,"  groaned  Elliot  ;  "  I  should  go 
mad  if  I  were  any  where  else.  Continue  with  your  work, 
and  don't  mind  me.  I  shall  not  leave  this  room  until  he  is 
saved— or  lost." 

The  doctor  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  resumed  his  work. 

"  We  were  obliged  to  take  him  from  the  bed,  as  he  would 
have  smothered  there.  Some  of  the  wounds  are  under  the 
arm  and  near  the  back,  and  until  they  are  dressed  he  can 
not  be  replaced  in  the  bed,"  explained  the  doctor,  keeping 
on  with  his  work.  "  I  am  treating  him  with  a  carbolic  prep 
aration  which  is  a  strong  healing  agency  as  well  as  an 
antiseptic.  It  has  achieved  miracles  in  the  military  hospitals, 
and  I  base  all  my  hopes  on  it." 

Hours  passed.  Elliot  thought  with  a  sickening  sense  of 
despair  that  the  awful  work  would  never  end.  When  it  was 
done,  there  were  little  patches  of  cotton  from  the  breast  to 
the  calf  of  the  left  leg.  The  victim  was  under  an  anaesthetic 
and  gave  no  sign  of  life  save  a  gentle  and  nearly  regular 
breathing.  The  body  was  wrapped  in  a  ,thin  fabric  im 
pregnated  with  oil  of  tar  and  laid  on  the  bed.  Then  the 
physician,  charging  his  aid  with  the  regimen  to  follow,  pre 
pared  to  go  to  dinner,  and  on  Elliot's  invitation  consented 
to  dine  at  Les  Charmettes.  When  he  returned  his  confrere, 
the  great  Paris  surgeon,  came  with  \iirn.  He  examined  the 
invalid  with  eyes,  ears  and  hands.  Indeed,  taking  off  his 
waistcoat,  he  raised  the  body  and  held  it  against  his  own 
breast  for  five  minutes,  listening  intently.  The  examination 
lasted  an  hour.  Then  the  great  man  retired  to  the  dressing- 
room  with  the  Crecy  practitioner,  and  the  door  was  closed 


288  TRAJAN. 

behind  them.  The  consultation  lasted  an  age,  as  it  seemed 
to  Elliot,  but  it  was  only  twenty  minutes  that  had  passed 
when  they  returned.  The  surgeon  was  to  remain  all  night, 
the  house  doctor  informed  Elliot,  and  would  beg  a  bed  to 
be  placed  in  the  dressing-room.  Elliot  looked  the  question 
he  dared  not  ask,  and  the  Paris  surgeon,  with  that  simplicity 
which  a  real  man  of  science  deals  in,  answered  gravely  : 

"  I  won't  conceal  from  you  that  the  case  is  a  bad  one. 
There  is,  however,  in  all  the  wounds  but  one  that  seems 
dangerous.  The  horn  in  one  place  entered  from  the  rear  of 
the  left  side,  but  whether  it  penetrated  deep  enough  and 
high  enough  to  dislocate  the  vertebrae,  I  am  not  yet  sure.  If 
it  has  we  shall  have  to  fight  death  tooth  and  nail,  with  only 
one  chance  in  three." 

"  Thank  you,  sir.  We  will  take  that  chance  hopefully 
under  such  a  guide  as  you.  I  have  rung  for  my  mother. 
You  will  please  consider  every  thing  in  this  house  at  your 
command." 

The  surgeon  bowed.     Mrs.  Arden  entered  as  he  said  : 

"  My  needs  are  very  few,  and  until  the  crisis  is  past  I  shall 
know  no  o^e  and  see  no  one." 

Elliot  made  a  gesture  as  he  saw  his  mother's  alarmed  look 
fixed  on  him. 

"  Have  my  bed  made  in  here,  mother.  I  am  going  to  stay 
here  for  the  present." 

Mrs.  Arden  saw  the  futility  of  arguing  the  matter,  merely 
reminding  him  that  it  was  hazardous  both  for  Trajan  and 
himself,  since,  of  course,  where  Elliot  was,  his  sister  and 
mother  must  be,  most  of  the  time. 

The  night  wore  away,  and  the  invalid  was  no  worse.  A 
day,  two  days,  three  days — a  week,  and  still  nothing  deci 
sive.  On  the  eighth  day,  the  Paris  surgeon,  who  could  only 
spare  time  to  come  out  every  three  days,  announced  that 
the  crisis  was  at  hand.  The  succeeding  twenty-four  hours 
would  decide  between  life  and  death. 

Trajan  had  not  been  permitted  to  speak,  and  the  cords 


"HOME  THEY  BROUGHT  HER  WARRIOR"        289 

of  his  body,  recovering  slowly  from  laceration  and  dis 
placement,  made  it  impossible  to  turn  his  head  on  the 
pillow.  His  mind  had  wandered  at  intervals,  and  Elliot 
heard  his  own  name  murmured  fondly  in  the  sick  man's 
dreams.  There  was  now  to  be  a  painful  operation,  and 
Elliot  was  banished  to  the  dressing-room.  It  lasted  many 
hours,  and  there  were  heart-rending  groans  that  told  the 
story  of  suffering.  The  great  surgeon  came  into  the  little 
room,  but  Elliot  dared  not  look  in  his  face. 

"  Eh  Men"  he  said,  kindly,  putting  his  hands  on  the 
young  man's  shoulder,  "  your  friend  will  have  a  few  days 
more  of  pain,  and  then  the  end." 

"  He  will  die,"  gasped  Elliot. 

"  No,  he  will  live." 

Let  us  draw  a  veil  over  the  impulsive  boy  rising  and  em 
bracing  the  kind  surgeon  and  flying  into  the  next  room  to 
tell  the  great  nr  .-TS  to  his  mother,  and  Edith,  and  Bella  when 
they  had  been  hastily  summoned. 

As  the  kind  surgeon  had  said,  so  it  was.  Trajan  mended 
to  the  "sight  of  the  eye,"  as  the  Crecy  doctor  expressed  it. 
He  raved  deliriously  at  intervals,  and  upon  such  occasions 
no  one  but  Elliot  remained  to  hear  the  revelations  of  the 
distressed  heart.  Elliot  never  told  what  these  revelations 
were,  but  he  looked  curiously  at  Edith  as  she  hovered  about 
the  sick-bed  and  smiled  benignantly  to  himself. 

Naturally,  the  last  blow  had  sent  the  company  away.  Kate 
McNair,  on  Mrs.  Arden's  earnest  urging,  remained,  and  was 
looked  upon  as  one  of  the  family.  The  young  vicomte 
had  accepted  Mrs.  Grovel's  hospitable  bidding  to  the  Du- 
clos  chateau,  where  the  Englishman,  Claridge,  gladly  trans 
ferred  himself.  Belcour  had  gone  back  to  Paris,  declaring 
it  a  crime  to  make  merry  while  his  dear  Elliot  and  Gray 
were  MsoU,  and,  as  he  afterward  expressed  it,  "  gone  down  to 
the  porch  of  Hades  with  their  hands  on  the  bell-pull." 

Theo,  denied  her  tetes-a-tetes  with  Elliot,  had  withdrawn  to 
the  Grovels',  carrying  Clare  with  her.  She  came  over  daily 


290  TRAJAN. 

to  inquire  for  the  invalids,  and  sometimes  succeeded,  on  one 
pretext  or  another,  in  seeing  Elliot.  He  was  distraught  and 
in  no  mood  for  the  gentle  passion  his  charming  friend  was 
slowly  feeding.  When  the  crisis  had  passed,  however,  he 
became  more  sociable  and  frequently  found  his  way  over  to 
the  Grovels',  where  he  encountered  a  house  full  of  the 
longest  possible  titles  and  the  most  eccentric  manners. 
Lafayette's  interest  in  Clare  had  grown  steadily.  He  was 
unaccountably  fond  of  being  with  her,  as  Theo  told  Jules, 
laughing,  mostly  because  Clare  let  him  do  all  the  talking, 
and  there  was  no  joy  to  him  dearer  than  that.  The  like  of 
the  display  made  by  the  Grovels  had  never  been  seen  in  Crecy. 

The  fame  of  their  hunts  in  my  Lord  Baron  Rothschild's 
demesnes  extended  to  Meaux  and  even  Paris,  where  the 
Chroniques  set  forth  the  affluence  of  their  good  friend 
Lafayette  in  the  piquant  phrases  achievable  only  in  the  French 
tongue  by  a  clever  pen.  Figaro  from  the  notes  of  the  shifty 
Hector,  published  a  brilliant  romance  of  the  encounter  with 
the  bull,  in  which  the  modest  Boston  journalist  figured  as  an 
intrepid  champion  of  beauty  in  distress  and  poor  Trajan 
as  a  sort  of  sword-bearer  to  the  redoubtable  knight.  Trajan 
found  this  exhilarating  narrative  long  afterward  waiting  for 
him  in  the  Rue  Dragon  and  laughed  heartily  at  the  handi 
work  of  his  compatriot.  And  so  the  old  order  of  things 
resumed  itself  insensibly  in  the  two  chateaux  where  the  reader 
is  for  the  time  being  guest, — alternating  between  one  and  the 
other  and  watching  the  little  drama  as  it  develops  its  plots 
and  brings  on  its  personages.  While  Trajan  is  hors  du  com 
bat  the  sagacious  reader  prefers  the  grand  company  of  the 
Grovels,  where  he  is  sure  of  fun  and  movement,  and  where 
he  can  keep  an  eye  on  that  captivating  witch  Theo,  whose 
quartier  gtntral  is  fixed  in  the  grandest  chamber  of  the 
chateau. 

It  is  the  artful  Theo  who,  after  an  interview  of 
amusing  frankness  with  her  venerable  kinswoman,  pre 
vails  upon  Mrs,  Grovel  to  write  inviting  Phoebe  and  her 


"HOME   THEY  BROUGHT  HER  WARRIORS       291 

mother  to  visit  the  Chateau  Duclos.  She  explains  to  Jules 
that  the  big  guardsman  refuses  to  remain  unless  some /#/-// 
is  furnished  to  "make  it  worth  his  while.'  The  Dray  tons  are 
not  rich  as  Americans  would  consider  it,  but  to  our  dear 
kinsfolk  their  $15,000  income  is  a  fortune  almost  fabulous, 
and  Antoine  will  be  very  comfortable  on  $5,000  of  it  per 
annum.  So  you  must  lend  him  a  hand  with  Phcebe,  who 
probably  has  her  mother's  weakness  for  titles  ;  and  now  that 
Trajan  is  recovering  you  must  renew  your  siege  with  Bella." 

Jules  doesn't  know  what  to  make  of  that  singular  girl. 
Sometimes  he  is  sure  she  is  half  won  and  he  tries  a  bit  of 
tenderness,  when  she  laughs  at  him  and  with  a  droll  look 
turns  the  talk  to  something  ludicrous.  He  half  believes  she 
is  a  jilt  and  trifling  with  him  for  her  own  amusement.  She 
has  Claridge  and  Bellechasse  in  a  fever  of  devotion,  and 
Jules  inclines  to  think  she  is  after  the  Bellechasse  dukedom, 
as  the  vicomte  will  inherit  it  when  his  worn  out  brother 
dies,  as  he  must  soon. 

"  But  Bella  doesn't  know  of  that.     How  should  she  ?" 

"  I'm  not  so  sure.  That's  the  only  mistake,  Jack,  you  make 
in  all  your  combinations — you  never  concede  as  much  craft 
to  your  adversaries  as  you  have  yourself.  My  experience 
teaches  me  that  every  one  has  a  certain  measure  of  craft  in 
his  or  her  kind,  and  I've  yet  to  see  the  marriageable  girls 
that  don't  know  a  good  deal  more  of  the  fellows  that  dan 
gle  about  them  than  the  fellows  suspect." 

"  Well,  Mr.  Moralist,  we've  got  the  summer  before  us,  and 
when  the  harvest  comes  if  we  haven't  gathered  the  crop  it 
will  be  our  own  fault.  I  expect  every  day  to  have  Clare 
announce  that  Lafayette  has  offered  himself." 


292  TRAJAN. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE      AMBER      ELVES. 

IT  is,  after  all,  a  glad  world  or  a  sad  one  as  we  please  to 
regard  it.  The  physical  depression  that  a  gloomy  day 
induces  is  changed  to  delightful  transport  when  we  force  our 
own  resources  to  come  to  our  aid.  We  may  imagine  that 
life  would  become  intolerable  in  the  six  months'  night  of  the 
North  or  the  sempiternal  mists  of  the  mountains,  did  we  not 
know  that  the  people  of  these  regions  pine  in  the  more 
equable  seasons  of  other  lands  !  The  favored  races  of 
Southern  Europe  are  prone  to  all  the  depressions  of  bleaker 
climes.  Naples,  the  seat  of  eternal  sunshine,  contributes  to 
the  roll  of  the  hapless  in  proportion  to  London  suffused  with 
the  debilitating  moisture  of  perpetual  fog.  It  is,  indeed,  in  our 
selves  and  not  in  our  stars,  oh,  my  brother,  that  the  magnet 
of  all  our  destinies  works  its  mysterious  attractions  and 
repulsions.  In  the  mineral  itself  lives  the  fire  that  sharp 
concussion  evokes — latent,  unconsumable,  but  always  native. 
We  build  ourselves  lordly  pleasure  houses,  but  the  festal 
tokens  must  come  from  ourselves. 

It  was  with  reflections  of  this  agreeably  trite  sort  that 
Trajan  passed  into  the  easier  stages  of  convalescence. 
His  wounds  had  healed  with  surprising  rapidity.  It  was 
only  the  lacerated  arm  and  the  gash  in  the  side  that 
held  him  in  bed.  These  the  physician  declared  would  give 
him  no  trouble  in  a  month.  It  was  the  wonderful  car 
bolic  remedy  that  had  worked  the  miracle,  and  the  delighted 
^Esculapius  was  embalming  the  events  in  a  profound 
exposition  to  be  added  to  the  causes  cettbres  in  the 
archives  of  the  Academy  of  Science.  Elliot  was  disposed 
to  impatience  with  the  enthusiastic  specialist,  but  TrajaH 
tolerated  his  vagaries  with  the  humility  of  an  acolyte,  and* 
gravely  subscribed  to  his  reclamations.  His  sick  room  had 
become  the  rendezvous  of  the  family.  Elliot,  whose  wounds 


THE  AMBER  ELVES.  293 

were  entirely  healed,  was  the  first  to  salute  him  in  the  morn 
ing  and  the  last  to  leave  him  at  night.  Mrs.  Briscoe  lavished 
on  him  the  maternal  devotion  that  a  darling  son  alone  could 
expect. 

The  family  owed  Bella's  life  to  him  and  she  thought  no 
recompense  could  pay  that  debt.  As  Trajan  became  strong 
enough  to  sit  propped  up  in  bed  he  insisted  that  the  draw 
ing  lessons  should  be  resumed,  as  he  felt  equal  to  instruct 
ing  his  pupils  from  that  point  of  vantage.  Elliot  in  arrang 
ing  the  sketches  in  Trajan's  portfolio  came  across  the  head 
of  Edith,  begun  long  before.  His  sister  was  looking  over 
his  shoulder  as  he  laughed  softly  and  looked  into  her  eyes. 
A  blush  prayed  him  not  to  jest  over  the  discovery,  and  the 
sketch  was  softly  restored  to  its  place.  Theo  came  over 
every  day  or  wrote  polite  notes  of  inquiry — but  for  some 
reason  none  of  her  messages  were  ever  delivered  to  the  sick 
man  unless  entrusted  to  Elliot — when  Trajan  listened  with 
impressive  unconcern.  One  morning  Edith  came  into  the 
room  with  a  bunch  of  lovely  wood  violets,  lilies  of  the  valley, 
and  fox-glove  arranged  in  a  pretty  vase.  Theo  had  sent 
them  to  the  invalid.  He  never  even  looked  at  them.  A  few 
minutes  afterward  Elliot  left  the  room  and  the  nurse  was  in 
the  dressing  chamber  ;  Trajan  seized  the  moment  to  say  : 

"  Miss  Arden,  will  you  do. me  a  great  favor  ? — will  you  wrap 
your  hand  in  a  towel  and  fling  those  flowers  out  of  the  win 
dow  ?  I  shall  smother  if  they  remain  in  the  room." 

"  I  must  humor  a  sick  man's  fancy,  of  course,"  said  the 
maiden  gayly,  gratifying  the  strange  whim  to  the  letter,  and 
then  cheerfully  resumed  her  sketching.  There  is  no  telling 
how  far  she  could  have  carried  her  discretion  in  refraining 
from  the  subject  had  Bella  not  opportunely  come  in  with 
her  mother.  Trajan's  whimsical  request  was  never  afterward, 
or  not  until  long  afterward,  alluded  to,  but  the  doctor  that 
day  forbade  flowers  in  the  sick  room,  omitting  to  mention 
that  it  was  by  the  sick  man's  request  !  Elliot  had  resumed 
his  rides  with  Theo,  the  first  pretext  being  the  young  strat- 


294  TRAJAN. 

egist's  desire  to  see  the  field  of  Trajan's  exploit.  Edith 
reluctantly  accompanied  them,  but  not  till  Bella  consented 
to  go  also.  Greatly  to  Elliot's  vexation  and  Theo's  no  small 
discomfiture,  the  Vicomte  Bellechasse  and  Claridge,  hear 
ing  of  the  proposed  tour,  invited  themselves  to  escort  the 
ladies.  There  were  no  traces  of  the  struggle  on  the  scene. 

The  stump  bore  evidences  of  the  young  man's  boot  heels, 
but  the  soft  grass  was  green  and  unstained  and  the  plowed 
field  innocent  of  a  reminder  of  the  blood  shed  that  exciting 
day.  The  water-pipe,  too,  had  been  repaired,  and  some  of 
the  ropes  serving  the  workmen  were  still  suspended  across 
the  chasm.  "  And  Trajan  crossed  on  that  thing  ?  "  asked 
Elliot  incredulously,  as  Edith  pointed  out  where  the  cries 
of  Bella  had  surprised  them  on  the  opposite  bank.  It  was  a 
five-inch  gas  pipe,  such  as  are  used  for  mains  in  the  smaller 
towns,  and  jointed  in  thick  sockets.  "  That  sort  of  pipe  is 
much  stronger  than  you  would  imagine,"  said  the  Vicomte. 
"  I  have  often  seen  workmen  make  use  of  it,  as  Gray  did, 
when  bridging  streams.  It  requires  great  skill  in  the  pas 
sage — but  otherwise  there  is  no  unusual  danger." 

"  I'll  lay  you  a  hundred  pounds  you  can't  find  a  workman 
in  the  whole  of  France  that  would  undertake  that  passage 
to  the  other  side,"  interposed  Claridge. 

"  I  will  undertake  it  myself  on  that  bet,"  said  the  intrepid 
Frenchman  taking  off  his  coat. 

The  ladies  grew  pale  and  frightened  and  looked  at  the 
young  men  appealingly.  Elliot,  laughing,  reminded  the 
antagonists  that  the  international  rancor  between  Gaul  and 
Briton  was  not  quite  in  place  under  the  circumstances. 

"  I  don't  doubt  a  moment,  my  dear  Bellechasse,  that  you 
would  do  it  ;  who  ever  heard  of  a  Frenchman  that  wouldn't 
dare  the  devil  ;  or  a  Briton,"  he  added  diplomatically,  "  that 
would  not  face  him  ?  " 

The  antagonists  were  mollified,  and  it  was  proposed  to 
descend  the  ravine  to  the  Spring  of  the  Faithful,  which  all 
the  party  had  heard  of,  but  none  had  ever  seen.  The 


THE  AMBER  ELVES.  295 

vicomte  was  sure  he  could  find  it,  he  had  come  to  it  once 
from  the  valley  road,  but  there  had  been  a  freshet  and  the 
entrance  to  Reveche  was  flooded.  Curiously  enough,  Edith 
heard  the  proposal  without  volunteering  a  word  about  her 
knowledge  of  its  whereabouts.  When  the  party  reached  the 
valley  road,  they  were  just  to  the  left  of  the  mouth  of  the 
ravine  and  Edith  recollected  the  place  at  once.  She  said 
nothing,  however,  and  the  vicomte  led  the  party  to  the 
opening,  where  all  dismounted  and  set  out  for  the  spring. 
It  was  not  difficult  to  find,  the  path  up  the  side  of  the  gorge 
passing  it  within  a  hundred  yards  from  the  mouth.  But  the 
late  rains  had  made  the  path  impracticable  for  the  ladies. 
The  spring  itself  was  a  boiling  caldron  of  yellow  muddy 
water,  and  the  pilgrims  were  forced  to  postpone  their  pledges 
until  the  place  was  accessible.  Edith  felt  guilty  at  the  sense 
of  relief  that  came  upon  her  when  this  was  told.  She 
vaguely  felt  that  certain  hands  in  the  mysterious  pool  would 
be  a  sort  of  sacrilege,  and  I  am  forced  to  make  known,  that 
upon  her  own  confession  afterward  made  to  a  certain  per 
son  whose  fortunes  I  hope  the  reader  is  interested  in,  she 
would  have  remorselessly  closed  up  the  fountain  if  she  could 
have  managed  it.  I  can't  account  for  this  strong  antipathy 
on  the  part  of  this  charming  girl.  She  was  by  far  the 
sweetest  nature  in  the  Arden  family.  Certainly  she  could 
not  have  objected  to  Elliot,  or  Bella,  or  even  the  good- 
natured  Vicomte,  or  Claridge,  for  she  afterward  made  much 
of  the  latter  two,  and  her  devotion  to  Bella  and  Elliot — is 
it  not  a  legend  in  the  family  ? 

One  day,  however,  later  on,  riding  alone,  Theo  and  Elliot, 
scouring  the  valley,  passed  the  ravine  and  the  young  man 
was  reminded  of  the  well.  They  dismounted  and  climbed 
the  dim  cathedral  aisle  to  the  bosky  shrine.  The  spring  had 
receded  to  its  normal  surface.  A  melancholy  cat-bird  sent 
forth  its  plaintive  refrain  in  the  thick  shade  above.  The 
daylight  fell  soft  and  soothing  on  the  eye  ;  slanting  banners 
of  gold  falling  through  the  opening  in  the  branches  above 


296  TRAJAN. 

as  the  sun  passed  to  the  west,   toward  the  misty  head  of 
the  ravine. 

"  What  a  scene  of  dreamy  restfulness  and  divine  aspira 
tion  !  "  cried  Theo,  drawing  a  long  breath  of  sensuous  con 
tent.  "  I  could  write  a  poem  here,  or  say  a  prayer  of  real 
devotion,  or  do  any  thing  that  implies  soul,  conscience,  truth." 
She  said  this  for  the  moment  forgetting  her  companion, 
whose  eyes  were  turned  upon  her  in  mute  questioning. 

"  That's  the  very  sentiment,"  he  said  softly,  "  for  the  vow 
of  fidelity.  It's  the  God  of  the  fountain  that  inspires  his 
devotees  before  they  pledge  at  his  altar — come,  let  us  receive 
this  sense  of  absolution  as  the  sign  that  we  are  purged  for 
the  sacrament." 

They  kneeled  down.  The  words  of  the  vow  were  not  easily 
made  out,  and  Elliot  held  the  drooping  tresses  of  green  sus 
pended  to  familiarize  himself  with  the  faded  characters. 

*  By  the  heart  that's  true  in  love,'  "  he  spelled  out — when 
a  scream  interrupted  him.  Theo  had  started  back  and 
risen  from  her  knees. 

Her  eyes  dilating  with  horror  were  fixed  on  the  inner  edge 
of  the  spring.  Elliot  followed  the  glance — a  large  black  ser 
pent  of  the  species  the  French  call  couleuvre  a  collier  Q\  water 
adder,  hung  from  the  thick  clusters  of  vines,  the  yellow  scales 
of  his  belly  reflected  like  amber  orbs  in  the  brackish  waters 
of  the  pool.  Theo  and  Elliot  stood  transfixed  with  a  sort 
of  fascination.  The  amber  eyes  in  the  pool  multiplied  until 
the  little  basin  seemed  a  caldron  of  dancing  demons,  glaring 
with  strange  menacing  contortions.  Picking  up  a  stone, 
Elliot  flung  it  at  the  serpent's  body  coiled  in  the  mosses.  The 
reptile  thrust  out  its  forked  tongue  and  disappeared  in  the 
bank.  The  water  resumed  its  somber  brackish  hue — the 
amber  fiends  had  fled. 

"  Ugh  !  "  shuddered  Theo,  "  I  wouldn't  put  my  hand  in 
that  water  for  the  keys  of  Peter.  The  sight  of  a  snake  makes 
me  quake  for  an  hour." 

"It  must  be  an  Egyptian   spirit  that  presides  here,"  said 


THE  AMBER  ELVES.  297 

Elliot,  no  more  inclined  than  his  companion  to  trust  himself 
in  the  vicinage  of  the  serpent.  "  You  know  the  snake  was 
the  Egyptian  symbol  of  eternity,  and  I  dare  say  the  reptile  is 
harmless,  but  I  own  I  should  be  a  sad  worshiper  if  the  rites 
of  the  Nile  were  in  vogue." 

Edith  and  Bella  were  in  the  room  when  Elliot  recounted 
this  episode  to  the  invalid,  laughing  over  his  own  discom 
fiture.  Edith's  eyes  met  Trajan's  at  the  climax,  but  neither 
made  any  comment.  Mrs.  Arden  innocently  asked  why 
Mr.  Gray  had  not  mentioned  this  curious  spring  among 
the  other  wonders  of  Crecy,  but  Edith  parried  the  question 
for  him  by  asking  Elliot  if  Theo  was  coming  to  dinner  as 
she  had  heard  him  say  something  about  expecting  her  and  Jules. 

All  further  embarrassment  on  the  subject  was  put  out  of 
mind  by  great  and  momentous  news.  Jules  who  had  been  in 
Paris  for  some  days  came  in  to  tell  that  war  was  about  to  be 
declared.  The  Prussians  were  ready  at  every  point.  Bismarck 
had  instructed  the  king  to  take  the  high  hand  with  France 
and  force  a  declaration.  The  ridiculous  booby  and  volup 
tuary,  the  prince  of  Hohenzollern,  had  pretended  to  resign 
his  individual  candidature  to  the  throne  of  Spain  only  to 
have  it  come  back  later  at  the  hands  of  the  head  of  the 
House,  the  King  of  Prussia.  The  Emperor  had  very  natur 
ally  objected  to  permitting  France  to  be  placed  between 
two  Prussian  princes,  menacing  the  empire  from  the  Pyrenees 
and  the  Rhine.  The  King  of  Prussia  was  to  be  asked  to 
categorically  forbid  any  member  of  his  family  from  accepting 
the  throne  of  Spain.  If  he  refused,  war  would  be  declared 
at  once.  Paris  was  even  indignant  that  the  Emperor  waited 
for  the  final  word  from  Prussia.  The  cafes  were  aflame  with 
patriotic  placards.  Thousands  were  marching  through  the 
streets  howling  for  war  and  the  march  to  Berlin  ;  Count 
Benedetti  was  with  Bismarck  and  the  king  at  Ems,  and  the 
answer  to  the  French  note  was  expected  every  day.  This 
exciting  topic  was  under  discussion  at  the  dinner  table  when 
Theo  came  in.  She  had  run  over  to  announce  the  arrival 


298  TRAJAN. 

of  Mrs.  Grovel's  piece  de  resistance,  the  Prince  d'Amboise, 
Duke  de  Charlroi,  one  of  the  greatest  noblemen  in  France,  a 
descendant  of  the  Valois  kings,  master  of  a  dozen  chateaux, 
and  though  generally  a  little  pinched  for  money  to  meet  his 
princely  extravagances,  owner  of  immense  wealth. 

"  I  suppose  he's  brought  to  console  Amanda  for  the  loss 
of  her  count,"  said  the  satirical  Miss  McNair. 

"  Indeed  the  prince  might  do  a  great  deal  worse  than 
marry  the  sentimental  Amanda,"  retorted  Jules.  "She  is  quite 
as  fine  looking  as  the  Princess  Pierre  Bonaparte,  and  has  a 
million-fold  her  advantages  otherwise." 

"She's  not  so  good  a  milliner,  I  imagine,"  said  the  persist 
ent  Scot,  "  and  wouldn't  be  so  frugal  if  the  prince  should 
ever  meet  the  fate  of  his  grandfather  and  be  driven  to  play 
ing  the  fiddle,  or  teaching  dancing  for  his  daily  bread,  as  I've 
heard  said  his  grandfather  did  in  Leicester  square,  in  Lon 
don  !  " 

"  Oh,  the  princes  are  part  of  the  people  in  France  now, 
Miss  Kate,  and  have  come  to  stay,"  said  Jules  oracularly. 

"  So  those  scamps,  the  Comtes  d'Artois  and  Provence, 
told  us  when  they  came  back  under  cover  of  British  bayonets 
and  Prussian  huzzars,  and  yet  we  saw  one  of  them  live  long 
enough  to  sneak  away  with  his  handbag  stuffed  with  stolen 
treasure  like  any  other  thief  caught  in  honest  men's  houses." 

Kate  was  a  vehement  democrat  and  hated  kings  and  their 
surroundings  with  a  hatred  that  would  bear  advantageous 
comparison  with  her  stout  ancestor  Knox,  of  whom  in  her 
expansive  moments  she  was  fond  of  prattling.  She  had  the 
picture  of  him  denouncing  that  wicked  beauty  Mary  Stuart, 
hung  over  her  bed  in  Paris,  and  the  malicious  hinted  that 
she  performed  her  orisons  to  that  historic  group  whenever  her 
hatred  of  aristocracy  seemed  to  be  relaxing.  Jules  went  on 
to  tell  how  the  prince  had  arrived  in  imposing  state.  Out 
riders  had  dashed  in  advance  to  announce  his  coming.  An 
army  of  retainers  formed  his  suite.  His  secretary  was  a 
vicomte  and  his  equerry  a  gentleman  of  family.  Mrs. 


THE  AMBER  ELVES.  299 

Grovel  was  quite  overwhelmed — but  this  Jules  did  not  men 
tion,  with  the  state  of  her  guest,  and  she  piteously  relegated 
to  Theo  the  office  of  receiving  and  caring  for  the  awe- 
inspiring  personage.  That  self-possessed  young  person  was 
quite  equal  to  the  task,  It  was  she  who  had  lured  him  to 
Crecy.  She  had  her  uses  for  the  great  man,  known  only  to 
herself.  She  had  been  of  service  to  him  at  court.  She  had 
made  his  peace  with  the  Empress  after  one  of  his  most  scan 
dalous  backslidings  ;  she  had  even  put  him  in  the  way  of  rais 
ing  money  on  a  day  of  sore  need.  The  prince  kissed  her 
pretty  hand  as  she  welcomed  him  in  the  great  salon,  and  pre 
sented  him  to  the  trembling  family  and  awestruck  guests. 

"What  a  witch  you  are!"  the  prince  whispered  as  she 
led  him  to  the  foot  of  the  grand  stairs  where  the  grave 
domestics  waited  to  show  him  to  his  apartments.  "  You 
ought  to  be  a  princess  ?  " 

"Perhaps  I  shall  be,"  and  she  flashed  an  enchanting  defi 
ance  at  him  as  he  bent  in  courtly  recognition  to  the  admiring 
circle.  He  shook  with  laughter  as  he  passed  through  the 
corridor,  and  the  domestics  thought  him  a  very  humorous 
and  affable  prince.  He  had  come  for  three  days  only,  on 
the  second  of  which  the  long-planned  and  once-deferred 
fete  champetre  was  to  be  given.  The  Baroness  and  Baron 
Rothschild  were  to  come  the  next  day  from  Ferrieres. 

Theo's  Paris  connections  had  been  potent  even  there,  for 
the  great  banker  was  negotiating  with  Grovels'  mining  com 
panies  for  an  investment  in  the  silver  shafts.  The  prince 
was  taken  over  to  call  in  state  on  the  Ardens.  He  had  met 
Elliot  at  the  American  minister's,  but  didn't  recollect  him, 
for  coming  upon  him  a  few  evenings  later  at  the  opera  he 
passed  him  without  a  sign.  Theo.  bore  warm  invitations  for 
Mrs.  Arden,  her  sister,  daughter  and  Bella  to  join  the  prince 
at  dinner,  but  they  all  declined  save  Bella,  who  accepted 
with  evident  pleasure.  When  Ihey  set  out  to  return,  the 
prince  asked  Theo's  permission  to  dismiss  the  phaeton  and 
walk.  He  was  full  of  polite  attention  to  Miss  Briscoe,  and  at 


300  TRAJAN. 

the  dinner,  on  Theo's  suggestion,  was  placed  between  herself 
and  the  favored  American.  Bella's  late  constraint  wore  off 
as  the  dinner  went  on  and  the  prince  confided  to  Theo  that 
she  was  the  most  charming  creature  he  had  ever  met — a 
Poictiers — a  Ninon — in  short  an  Olympian  divinity. 

"  Take  care,  monseigneur — mademoiselle  would  not  feel 
flattered  by  such  comparisons.  She  doesn't  understand  your 
persiflage  and  cynical  raillery  as  I  do — furthermore,  she  is 
fiancee"  said  Theo,  as  a  diversion  at  Bella's  right  gave  her 
the  prince's  ear. 

"Fiancee  is  not  mariee"  he  returned,  "and  until  a  young 
woman  has  reached  that  deplorable  cachot  she  is  the  guer 
don  of  every  knight's  prowess." 

Bella's  conquest  of  the  prince  was  marked  by  every 
one,  but  the  fact  did  not  seem  to  inspire  any  jealous 
heart-burning  in  the  self-poised  little  intriguante ;  pos 
sibly  she  had  some  occult  means  of  divining  the  noble 
man's  insincerity,  or  recognized  his  florid  attentions 
as  the  caprice  of  the  gallant  French  nature.  She  rather 
seemed  to  favor  his  pursuit  of  the  young  Diana.  She  even 
informed  him  meaningly,  that  as  she  was  obliged  to  go  to 
Paris  presently  she  committed  him  to  the  care  of  her 
rival  and  felt  sure  that  he  would  not  find  the  time  heavy  on 
his  hands. 

The  fete  that  had  occupied  the  minds  of  the  Duclos 
chateau  was  a  memorable  event  at  Crecy.  Never  had  the 
simple  bourgeois  of  that  retired  corner  seen  any  thing 
so  magnificent.  Even  the  imperial  reception  of  the  year 
before  at  Ferrieres,  afforded  no  such  spectacle  of  lights, 
equipages,  and  music.  The  gardens  of  the  chateau  were 
like  the  Champs  Elysee  concerts,  when  the  great  Pas  de 
Loup  played  those  excruciating  pieces  of  Monsieur  Wagner. 

The  ominous  rumors  filling  Paris  and  the  imminence  of 
war  threw  a  shade  of  uncertainty  upon  the  attendance  of 
her  most  cherished  guests  that  distracted  the  expectant  Mrs. 
Grovel.  Even  those  in  the  house  were  uncertain  of  remain- 


THE  AMBER  ELVES.  301 

ing  the  day  out.  The  Vicomte  de  Bellechasse  and  the 
big  Antoine  were  in  hourly  expectation  of  orders  to  join 
their  regiments.  The  uncertainty  of  the  crisis  kept  many 
away — but  the  fame  of  the  Montana  millionaire's  princely 
cheer  held  most  of  those  expected  faithful.  Lord  Lyons 
sent  his  regrets  by  his  first  secretary.  Lord  Beaufoy,  who 
made  a  very  imposing  substitute  and  danced  every  set. 
When  the  festival  began  at  noon,  however,  the  list  of  guests 
would  have  satisfied  the  most  exacting  hostess.  It  was 
indeed,  as  Figaro  politely  said,  the  affair  of  the  season  and 
graced  by  all  who  were  known  to  the  haut  ton  of  Parisian 
society — an  acknowledgment  which  gave  untold  satisfaction 
to  the  gratified  Grovels.  The  Countess  and  Annette  de  Belle 
chasse,  with  the  Marquise  Jumelle,  came  early  in  the 
afternoon — more,  I  suspect,  in  deference  to  the  solicitation 
of  the  young  vicomte  than  to  gratify  themselves  or  Theo. 

Crecy  was  en  fete  with  so  much  movement.  Two  orchestras 
imported  from  Paris  were  lodged  in  the  Aigle  d'Or  and  the 
Tete  Noir,  and  gathered  the  townsfolk  and  peasants  from 
far  and  near  playing  in  the  chateau  grounds.  Baron  Roths 
child  and  his  baroness  arrived  at  noon,  when  the  open  air 
fete  was  well  under  way  and  the  younger  guests  were 
battling  in  croquet,  billiards,  lawn  tennis  and  green-sward 
diversions.  Mrs.  Grovel  had  gone  at  the  last  moment  to 
charge  Mrs.  Arden  and  her  family  not  to  desert  her  in  the 
crisis  of  her  glory.  Though  in  no  humor  for  festivity  the 
family  promised  to  be  present.  Elliot,  Bella  and  Edith 
went  early  in  the  afternoon,  and  Philip,  who  had  returned 
on  his  way  to  Chalons,  promised  to  take  Mrs.  Arden  and 
Mrs.  Briscoe  in  the  evening.  He  had  learned  that  Clare 
was  not  to  attend. 

On  the  fete  itself,  the  wonders  of  its  miseen  sctne,  I  shall 
not  linger.  Were  not  the  glories  and  the  names  duly  re 
corded  in  the  Colony  Court  Circular  the  following  week,  and 
were  there  not  bales  of  the  issue  as  big  as  dry  goods  boxes 
ordered  by  the  ravished  family  and  all  whose  names  were 


302  TRAJAN. 

printed  and  sent  to  the  American  Court  journals,  which,  as 
every  one  who  is  in  society  knows,  are  to  be  found  in  all  the 
refined  communities  of  our  glorious  land  of  equality  and 
Spartan  democracy.  We  may  glance  in  at  a  few  of  the 
episodes  of  the  great  fete,  which  were  not  without  their 
influence  upon  subsequent  events,  but  as  we  are  not  invited, 
this  shall  be  done  in  the  most  unobtrusive  fashion,  for  Mrs. 
Grovel  at  this  stage  of  her  social  education  had  not  learned 
that  charming  device  of  her  compeers  in  America.  She  did 
not  know  that  a  facile  pen  might  be  secured  to  record  her 
costumes  and  give  lists  of  guests,  prices,  decorations  and 
what  not,  by  thoughtfully  providing  each  of  the  enterprising 
journals  of  her  vicinage  with  a  little  note  of  invitation, 
inclosing  all  these  details,  to  relieve  the  perplexed  editor  ! 

It  is  far  beyond  my  poor  powers  to  embalm  the  fabulous 
beauty  of  the  gowns  worn  by  the  various  great  dames,  the 
jewels  and  feathers  and  innumerable  artifices  of  costume, 
whose  secret  was  in  those  days  only  known  to  Paris  ;  those 
are  far  too  delicate  for  the  masculine  pen,  and  as  they  after  all 
are  but  the  merest  glints  on  the  chain  whose  links  are  forging 
under  the  reader's  eyes,  what  use  suspending  the  bellows  or 
arresting  the  hammer  that  would  only  give  the  metal  time  to 
cool  from  the  white  heat  necessary  to  shape  all  the  links 
uniformly  ?  For  the  Vulcan  at  the  literary  anvil  must 
fashion  his  ore  into  shape  while  it  is  malleable,  else  his 
handiwork  may  as  well  come  from  the  molds,  whereout 
issue  the  forms  that  are  to  life  as  the  chromo  to  the  oil  paint 
ing  or  the  plaster  galvanized  fayade  to  the  work  of  the 
chisel  ! 

So  you  are  to  figure  to  yourself  the  dukes,  counts, 
marquises,  barons,  duchesses,  countesses,  baronnes,  et 
cetera,  et  cetera — in  such  garments  as  lavish  wealth  and 
irreproachable  taste  suggest.  The  prince  had  graciously 
decorated  his  manly  bosom  with  the  jewels  and  ribbons  of 
his  great  orders  and  glistened  like  a  knight  in  armor  as  the 
Venetian  lights,  hung  in  scores  on  the  branches,  shone  upon 


THE  AMBER  EL  VES.  303 

him.  To  the  lay  judgment  of  the  masculine  guests,  Bella 
was  the  princess  of  the  fete.  Her  robe  of  fleecy  silken  laces 
and  China  crepe  sat  as  lightly  on  her  pliant  figure  as"  spring 
frost  upon  branches  of  willow.  A  sparkling  aigrette  of 
priceless  diamonds  held  up  the  folds  of  the  lace  overskirt  at 
the  point  of  the  corsage.  The  Prince  d'Amboise  hardly 
gave  the  other  swains  a  chance  to  approach  this  divine 
being,  and  set  down  his  name  on  her  card  for  the  three 
waltzes  she  had  determined  to  confine  herself  to. 

Theo,  though  not  so  richly  dressed,  was  a  work  of  ravish 
ing  art  in  the  neutral  tints  she  best  knew  how  to  combine. 
She  moved  among  the  guests,  gathering  thrones  in  her  con 
quering  glances.  Elliot  had  never  realized  her  beauty  as  he 
did  at  that  moment  in  the  inebriating  evidences  of  her  con 
quest.  Indeed,  I  have  said  that  Theo  was  not  a  beautiful 
woman.  Her  features  were  irregular.  Her  skin  olive  and  her 
mouth  mobile,  but  indeterminate.  Good  humor  and  piquant 
mirth  played  upon  her  round  face  as  ripples  upon  the  sunny 
surface  of  a  pool.  The  green  gray  eyes  softened  to  limpid 
brown  ;  the  brown  changing  into  the  iridescent  hues  of  the 
cloud  that  veils  the  cascade  rainbow.  Her  plump  round 
hands  thrust  their  bewitching  shapeliness  into  her  talk,  her 
laugh,  her  simplest  movement,  as  is  the  manner  of  the 
French.  Her  feet  matched  her  hands,  and  the  trim  ankles 
which  her  robe  did  not  at  all  times  conceal  were  in  keeping 
with  the  rest  of  the  figure.  To  all  this  add  the  incomparable 
sprightliness  of  a  manner  vivacious  as  the  French,  with  the 
seductive  reserve  of  her  Anglo-Saxon  sisters,  and  you  may 
get  something  of  a  notion  of  the  effect  this  mistress  of  every 
guileful  art  produced  upon  her  contemporaries.  Her  glid 
ing  motion,  wonderful  in  such  short  stature,  suggested  the 
leopardess,  who  had  forsaken  her  wildwood  instincts  and 
showed  her  teeth  only  for  the  amusement  of  the  docile 
lambs — if  it  be  permissible  to  compare  so  much  loveliness 
with  so  much  of  the  terrible. 

To  set  eyes  upon  her  as  she  tripped  the  sensuous  measure 


3°4  TRAJAN. 

of  the  "  Blue  Danube,"  resting  on  Elliot's  stout  arm,  was  to 
look  again,  and  to  look  again  was  to  lose  the  heart,  or 
head,  or  both,  to  so  much  enchantment.  Theo  was  far  too 
wise  for  coquetry.  She  charmed  the  women  as  well  as  the 
men  by  the  consummate  deference  of  her  demeanor.  De 
spising  the  callow  chatterers  who  lisped  inflated  compliments, 
not  less  than  the  hollow  caresses  of  her  own  sex,  she  made 
both  believe  that  their  tributes  were  the  breath  of  her  joy, 
the  food  of  her  happiness.  Where  a  less  skillful  hand  would 
have  smirked  in  her  perfectly  obvious  triumphs,  Theo  bore 
it  all  with  a  meekness  that  deceived  every  body  that  watched 
the  naive  comedy — unless  the  antipathetic  Bella  and  Edith 
be  excepted.  But,  as  we  know,  thgse  young  women  had 
heartburnings  of  their  own,  the  fuel  of  which  the  angelic 
Theo  was  suspected  to  be  supplying.  Resplendent  and 
conquering,  Bella  felt  that  the  substantial  honors  of  the 
field  were  the  enemy's.  Elliot  had  apparently  forgotten 
her  presence  in  his  infatuated  devotion  to  the  sorceress. 
Edith,  approaching  him  in  the  interval  between  the  dances, 
reminded  him  that  he  had  not  asked  his  cousin  for  a  single 
waltz.  He  looked  rather  vexed,  if  the  truth  must  be  said, 
and  a  few  minutes  later  went  up  to  the  beauty  who  was  sit 
ting  with  the  prince  to  make  amends.  Glancing  at  her  card 
the  tardy  wight  found  the  prince's  name  on  all  the  numbers 
not  erased. 

"  You  haven't  a  waltz  free,  Bella  ? "  he  asked,  guiltily. 
"  May  I  not  ask  monseigneur  to  share  an  old  favorite  from 
Faust  ?  We  have  not  danced  together  in  an  age." 

Monseigneur  was  desott 'to  seem  selfish,  but  as  mademoi 
selle  had  limited  her  dances  to  three  he  really  could  not 
bring  himself  to  forego  the  pleasure.  Elliot,  just  a  shade 
discomfited,  bowed  ceremoniously  and  returned  to  his  god 
dess.  As  he  crossed  the  room  Edith  came  up  and  whispered  : 
"  I  am  tired  out,  and  as  Pierre  is  just  come  with  Mamma 
and  Auntie  I'm  going  home.  Don't  mention  it  to  Bella." 
Now  the  pleasures  of  the  dance  had  always  been  keenest  to 


THE  AMBER  EL  VES.  305 

Elliot  when  his  pretty  sister  was  on  his  arm,  but  he  had  not 
asked  her  once  to-night  and  let  her  go  without  suggesting  it. 
Plainly  Theo's  second  move  was  successful  as  the  first. 
She  saw  Edith  going  and  she  was  vexed,  for  it  wasn't  her 
purpose  to  be  monopolized  the  whole  evening  by  her 
adorer.  She  had  counted  on  Edith  to  take  Elliot  when  she 
had  rounded  the  rdle  at  the  proper  stage.  Theo  set  out  to 
find  Claridge,  who  had  been  lounging  in  the  veranda,  dis 
coursing  on  war  and  politics  to  the  distracted  Amanda. 
That  hapless  damsel,  arrayed  like  a  favorite  sultana,  had 
been  strangely  neglected.  She  adored  dancing  and  had 
been  asked  but  once  during  the  evening  by  the  unhappy 
Antoine,  who  had  received  orders  to  join  his  regiment  the 
next  day  at  Nancy. 

Philip,  to  whom  Edith  had  written,  begging  him  to  come 
out  for  the  ball,  as  Bella  would  be  without  escort,  had 
found  the  visit  possible,  when  it  was  further  mentioned  that 
Clare  had  gone  to  Paris  to  avoid  the  crowd  and  would  not 
return  until  quiet  was  restored.  He  returned  to  make  his 
adieux,  as  he  was  to  begin  active  duty  on  Vinoy's  staff,  so 
soon  as  the  army  was  in  motion.  He  had  good-naturedly 
given  his  arm  to  Amanda  when  he  saw  her  forlorn  condition, 
and  Theo,  pretending  to  rally  Antoine,  warned  him  that  the 
American  would  cut  him  out.  Antoine  glowered  savagely 
at  the  unconscious  offender,  going  so  far  as  to  jostle  him 
rudely  whenever  he  could  get  near  enough.  His  prospects 
of  capturing  the  Yahoo  heiress,  Theo  had  adroitly  insinu 
ated,  were  excellent.  During  the  evening  he  was  feverishly 
bent  on  making  the  most  of  the  time  left  him,  but  incau 
tiously  indulging  in  too  much  champagne  had  been  carried 
off  by  La  Baronne  to  hide  his  unseemly  lapse.  He  had 
begun  to  believe  Theo  that  he  stood  well  with  Amanda, 
and  cursed  his  fate  that  the  long-wished-for  war  had  come 
just  when  fortune  stood  with  beckoning  hand  ready  to  crown 
his  poverty  with  the  Montana  millions.  So  it  happened 
that  the  pensive  Amanda  had  been  left  to  ruminate  almost 
20 


306  TRAJAN. 

unnoticed  in  the  halls  of  her  family  grandeur  and  triumph. 
Theo's  quick  eye  had  seen  all  this.  Hence  it  was  that, 
effulgent  in  her  demurely  worn  laurels,  she  startles  Philip 
and  the  Montana  maiden  by  drawing  a  chair  beside  them. 

She  hands  the  page  a  card  with  a  penciled  line  to  the  prince 
and  bids  him  hand  it  to  the  august  personage  in  the  next 
room  with  Bella.  Amanda  begins  a  glowing  account  of  the 
condescensions  of  the  great  people,  when  Theo,  spying  the 
prince  looking  about  in  perplexity,  rises  and  slips  over  to 
his  side.  She  says  something  in  a  low  tone.  Monseigneur's 
eyes  sparkle  and  he  laughs  consumedly,  devouring  his  men 
tor  with  admiring  glances  that  it  was  perhaps  quite  as  well 
all  the  world  could  not  see.  He  came  over  to  the  lone 
Amanda,  deserted  in  this  scene  of  parental  splendor,  and 
dropping  into  Philip's  vacated  place,  protests  that  mademoi 
selle  has  been  treating  him  cruelly.  She  has  been  hiding 
herself  the  whole  evening,  while  she  knew  that  he  was  covet 
ing  the  pleasure  of  a  dance.  Amanda  can  only  gasp  her 
innocence  of  such  turpitude,  when  monseigneur  vows  that 
she  can  only  prove  her  sinlessness  by  honoring  him  with  the 
next  dance.  Suffused  with  glory  and  blushes,  Amanda  sig 
nifies  her  readiness,  and  offering  his  arm  with  the  ceremonious 
deference  he  would  have  shown  the  Empress,  the  heir  of  a 
principality  and  the  heiress  of  Yahoo  Gulch  edify  the  ad 
miring  throng  in  the  lively  measures  of  the  polka-mazourka. 

The  proud  mother,  bustling  about  to  see  that  the  lackeys 
neglected  none  of  the  great  personages,  caught  sight  of 
Amanda's  blazing  chignon  bestowed  upon  the  only  available 
spot  on  the  princely  shoulders,  free  from  decoration,  and 
her  heart  fluttered  in  the  ennobling  sight.  "  Why  shouldn't 
her  'Manda  catch  a  prince?  She  was  not  so  sightly,"  the 
proud  mother  admitted  with  a  little  sigh,  "  as  Bella  or  Theo, 
but  her  eyes  were  better  than  that  all-conquering  young 
person's.  She  didn't  talk  so  much,  either,  and  Jep  was 
always  saying  men  liked  women  who  held  their  tongues  ! 
'Manda  can  beat  a  muley  cow  at  that  if  she  ain't  a 


THE  AMBER  EL  VES.  307 

beauty,"  she  added  in  self-consolation  as  she  watched  the 
darling. 

"  Yahoo  mayn't  be  like  Rome,"  she  said  the  next  day, 
recounting  to  the  husband  of  her  bosom,  as  proud  wives  do, 
the  various  stages  of  the  previous  day's  bliss,  "  all  roads  don't 
lead  to  the  Gulch,  but  it  gives  those  that  know  how  to  leave 
it,  means  of  getting  on  every  road  that's  worth  traveling. 
Now  own  up,  Jep,  you  never  expected  to  see  a  daughter  of 
yours  whirling  around  in  a  palace  that  your  money  paid  for, 
in  the  arms  of  a  real  prince  !  " 

Jeptha,  whose  knowledge  of  the  fete  and  ball  ended  with 
a  confused  bow  to  the  guests,  allowed  that  he  hadn't  "  cal 
culated  "  on  such  luck  for  Amanda,  nor  did  his  manner  indi 
cate  that  cordial  sympathy  in  the  remarkable  event  his  wife 
justly  counted  on.  He  had,  indeed,  as  the  plain-spoken 
woman  declared,  stuck  himself  up-stairs  with  that  "  simper 
ing  old  stuck-in-the-mud,"  the  "  Minister,"  as  the  American 
abroad  is  in  the  habit  of  vaguely  alluding  to  the  representa 
tive  of  the  sovereign  people,  and  they  had  occupied  the 
whole  night  making  a  spectacle  of  themselves  over  the  mys 
teries  of  that  American  diversion,  which  the  Frenchmen  call 
"le  pokaire. "  "Come  now,  Jep,  just  own  that  you  think  I 
play  my  cards  pretty  well  considerm'  ?  " 

But  instead  of  seizing  this  proffer  of  ready  placation,  the 
graceless  husband  remarked  with  the  indifference  that  has 
been  known  to  excite  the  most  docile  wives,  "  Why,  as  to 
them  princes,  Meda,  ef  you  think  so  much  of  that  sort  of 
thing,  I  can  get  you  a  king  or  two  to  dance  'Manda  around 
at  the  next  ball.  They're  not  exactly  cheap,  but  money'll 
fetch  'em  every  time.  Why,  this  banker  feller,  Rothschild, 
had  the  Emperor  and  Empress  out  here  a  year  ago — but  it 
cost  him  a  pot  of  gold." 

Shocked  by  such  coarse  estimate  of  the  great,  and  enraged 
by  his  indifference  to  the  proudest  triumph  of  her  life,  the 
outraged  woman  fell  back  upon  her  primitive  weapons,  tears 
and  remonstrances,  an  armory  that  the  experienced  wife 


308  TRAJAN. 

never  draws  on  in  vain  in  such  encounters  :  "  You  didn't 
always  think  me  a  fool — "  sob,  sob — 

"  I  tell  you  what  it  is,  Meda,  what's  the  use  making  a  fuss 
over  such  rot,  there  isn't  a  prince,  or  duke,  or,  or — "  but 
here  his  command  of  titles  ran  short,  "  that  you  couldn't  get 
to  dance  with  a  squaw  in  the  fixins  of  the  Gulch,  or  marry 
one  either,  if  what  they  call  the  dot  were  big  enough.  'Man- 
da's  made  a  show  of  us  once  already.  She  hasn't  much  sense 
at  best.  Don't  go  putting  any  more  fool  notions  in  her 
thick  head  than  she's  got.  It's  too  hard  getting  them  out, 
and  there's  enough  there  already.  I  won't  knuckle  down 
one  five-cent  piece  to  the  longest  name  that  asks  to  marry 
her.  Ef  she  marries  one  o'  them  'tarnal  humbugs,  he'll  have 
to  be  satisfied  with  the  gold  in  her  hair,  that  the  painter 
chap  used  to  talk  like  a  Tom-fool  about." 

This  unfeeling  taunt  stopped  the  sobs  and  drew  on  the 
reminiscences  : 

"  Jeptha  Grovel,  you  always  stood  in  the  light  of  your 
family.  Where  would  you  be  to-day,  I'd  like  to  know,  ef  it 
hadn't  been  for  me  ?  Shifting  sand  in  Shawmut  Run  at  a 
dollar  and  a  half  a  day.  Just  tell  me — wasn't  it  a  due  bill 
to  me  for  six  months'  board  and  washing  from  Jim  Houk 
that  gave  you  a  seventh  interest  in  the  Ivanhoe,  and  didn't 
you  draw  two  million  out  of  the  lode  inside  a  year  ? " 

"  There's  no  denying  you're  a  brick,  Meda,  when  you 
stick  to  your  own  tools.  But  among  these  '  beats,'  don't 
you  see  they're  only  laughing  at  us  ?  It's  all  the  same  to 
me  ef  you  like  the  thing,  so  long  as  'Manda  isn't  made  a 
dunce  of  a  second  time." 

But  all  this  was  after  the  ball,  and  unforeseen  by  the  fond 
matron  as  she  feasted  her  eyes  on  her  darling's  triumph.  Not 
when  she  had  herself  opened  the  ball  on  the  Baron  Roths 
child's  arm,  with  the  Baronne  as  her  vis-a-vis,  did  the  proud 
woman  enjoy  a  more  delicious  thrill  of  rapture.  It  is  true 
her  joy  was  clouded  by  the  obstinate  refusal  of  Jeptha  to 
assume  his  place  as  head  of  the  house  beside  La  Baronne. 


THE  AMBER  EL  VES.  309 

Jeptha  was  no  devotee  of  the  gay  Terpsichore.  He  had 
retired  to  an  upper  chamber  where,  as  the  Vicomte  Belle- 
chasse  declared,  the  American  Minister,  a  Paris  banker  from 
New  York,  and  a  silver  nabob  from  Arizona  sat  as  silent  as 
conspirators,  immersed  in  "  le  pokaire,"  a  surprising  "jeu 
de  cartes  "  which  did  not  stimulate  conversation  ! 

Amanda,  silent  and  almost  tearful  in  her  bliss,  was  depos 
ited  in  the  arms  of  mamma,  who  rewarded  the  affable  noble 
man  with  such  a  regard  of  triumph  as  would  have  repaid  a 
greater  heroism.  She  would,  I  believe,  have  embraced  the 
astonished  prince,  if  Theo  had  not  come  up  and  given  her 
a  warning  glance. 

"  Mademoiselle  dances  like  a  sylph,"  he  said,  bowing  gra 
ciously.  "  I  must  beg  the  favor  of  one  more  dance,  at  least, 
before  this  charming  fete  comes  to  an  end,"  and  taking 
'Manda's  almost  blank  card,  he  traced  characters  that  a 
thousand  admiring  eyes  since,  called  upon  to  read,  have 
found  it  difficult  to  construe  into  "  D'Amboise."  For  in 
France,  where  bad  penmanship  is  an  art,  the  noblesse  carry 
off  all  the  honors  in  illegibility.  You  may  see  the  famous 
scrawl  on  the  Malachite  mantel  of  the  Grovel  mansion  to 
this  day,  where,  framed  in  gold,  it  is  cherished  as  the  devout 
in  Spain  guard  relics — known  and  admired  by  the  fiercest 
democrat  in  the  imperial  territory  of  Montana.  It  was  at 
this  stage  of  the  ball  that  the  big  Antoine,  having  slept  off 
the  excesses  of  the  early  evening,  reappeared  on  the  scene. 
He  was  savage  and  impatient  to  find  Amanda,  the  object 
of  the  prince's  adoration,  and  as  the  magnate  moved  off 
with  Bella,  he  shrugged  his  shoulders  significantly. 

"  It  would  make  a  famous  match,  if  the  prince  could  win 
such  a  divine  creature,"  remarked  young  Bellechasse,  sigh 
ing  sentimentally. 

"  Win  her,"  said  Antoine  with  a  savage  sneer,  "  that  proud 
coquette  has  done  nothing  but  make  fine  eyes  at  my  lord 
prince  since  he  came  here.  She  would  take  him  on  any 
terms." 


310  TRAJAN. 

"  Monsieur  de  Pleinevide,  the  lady  you  insult  by  your 
insinuations  is  my  kinswoman  ;  I  hold  you  responsible  for 
language  no  gentleman  would  use  in  the  house  of  the  lady's 
friends,"  and  as  he  spoke  Philip  handed  the  astonished 
guardsman  his  card.  "  I  shall  have  to  ask  the  name  of  your 
friends  to  whom  I  may  send  mine." 

"  Tres  Men,  monsieur,  I  am  immediately  at  your  service," 
with  a  self-possession  that  showed  he  was  not  wholly  taken 
by  surprise — the  fact  being  that  Theo  had  prepossessed 
him  against  Philip,  without  dreaming  of  a  quarrel  breaking 
out  so  soon — or  until  she  gave  the  signal.  Shortly  after  day 
light,  Elliot  lingering  in  the  grounds  after  the  rest  had  gone 
in,  was  surprised  at  the  apparition  of  a  cab,  coming  slowly 
up  to  the  side  entrance  of  the  chateau,  as  if  to  evade  notice. 
It  stopped  near  the  steps,  and  Claridge  leaped  out,  followed 
by  the  Crecy  doctor,  and  last  of  all  Philip,  with  his  arm  band 
aged  and  looking  very  pale. 

"  What  in  Heaven's  name  does  this  mean  ?  "  cried  Elliot, 
confronting  the  conspirators. 

"Oh,  nothing  serious,"  said  Philip  tranquilly.  "That 
hussar  kinsman  of  the  Carnots  indulged -in  some  of  his 
French  blackguardism  at  our  family's  expense,  and  I  gave 
him  the  choice  of  weapons.  I  must  say  he  shoots  well,"  he 
added  a  little  ruefully  as  he  nursed  his  arm. 

Claridge  explained  the  encounter  as  they  helped  Philip 
into  the  house.  "  It  is  not  a  bad  wound.  Two  shots  were 
fired  by  each.  Pleinevide  is  a  practiced  duelist.  Philip  is 
shot  in  the  arm  and  leg,  and  has  lost  a  good  deal  of  blood. 
Nothing  serious — but  I  couldn't  stay  at  the  Grovels." 

"He  wanted  to  go  to  the  Crecy  Inn,"  the  doctor  added, 
"but  it  was  full,  and  I  thought  it  was  better  under  all 
circumstances  to  bring  him  to  the  chateau,  as  sooner  or 
later  your  family  must  have  heard  of  the  duel,  though  of 
course  the  cause  need  not  be  known." 

Theo  was  not  so  wildly  astray  as  Jules  fancied  to  him 
self,  in  trusting  the  unexpected  to  lead  Clare  to  the  arms  of 


THE  AMBER  ELVES.  311 

her  unconscious  suitor.  Had  the  project  of  a  marriage 
between  herself  and  the  scion  of  Yahoo  Gulch  been  baldly 
put  to  Clare,  she  would  have  frozen  the  audacious  match 
maker  with  a  scorn,  not  the  less  biting  because  silent. 

Love,  or  the  thought  of  it,  had  passed  from  the  horizon  of 
her  life,  when  she  buried  the  memory  of  the  faithless 
Philip  Kent.  Nor  was  Theo  fatuously  sanguine  in  count 
ing  on  the  match  she  had  set  her  heart  upon.  She 
knew  her  sister's  nature,  and  believed  that  she  would 
finally  accept  the  young  man's  proposals,  to  escape  the 
constant  denial  of  them.  Her  very  indifference  to  the  ends 
that  most  women  seek,  in  part  at  least,  in  marriage,  was  just 
as  likely  to  lead  her  to  a  passionless  assent,  as  to  render  her 
obstinate.  In  this  the  strategist  reasoned  with  a  marvel- 
ously  profound  insight  into  human  nature,  or  at  all  events 
into  her  sister's  nature,  for  it  was  the  very  instinct  of  repose 
that  in  the  end  led  Clare  to  the  decisive  parting  where  two 
ways  meet  in  every  life.  It  was  chance,  however,  rather 
than  the  prearranged  scheme,  that  in  the  end  seemed  to  jus 
tify  Theo's  rash  confidence  in  this  grotesque  business. 
Chance,  which  we  have  seen  dispersing  her  battalions  before 
they  had  time  to  strike  a  blow  in  this  diversion,  at  last 
came  to  her  aid  and  gave  to  her  arms  a  brilliant,  though 
premature,  triumph. 

Clare's  indifference  to  people  had  grown  into  confirmed 
habit  through  her  long  seclusion  in  her  new  life.  She  found 
it  impossible  to  interest  herself  in  new  faces.  She  shrank 
from  all  approaches,  and  repulsed  by  mere  inanition  rather 
than  by  studied  coldness  or  repellence.  When  she  returned 
to  Crecy  after  the /<?/<?  she  would  play  for  hours  with  the  chil 
dren,  and  it  was  through  these  rather  than  living  in  the  same 
house  or  any  of  the  influences  on  which  Theo.  had  calcu 
lated  that  she  lost  her  shyness  and  reserve  with  Lafayette. 

That  freakful  Lochinvar  was  the  idol  of  his  small  brother 
and  sister.  He  spent  half  his  time  imparting  his  mastery  of 
horses  to  the  boy  and  inventing  pleasures  for  Sophronia. 


3T2  TRAJAN. 

Recognizing  a  kindred  spirit  in  Clare,  the  children 
doubled  their  joys  by  inviting  their  big  brother  and  the 
gentle,  sad-eyed  Clare  to  these  sports.  The  two  were  soon 
on  very  friendly  terms — indeed,  Clare  was  more  responsive 
in  this  new  companionship  than  with  Theo  or  Jules.  She 
no  longer  saw  the  risible  in  Lafayette's  rough  western  fro- 
wardness,  or  his  unpolished  manners.  His  tenderness  and 
gayety  with  his  young  brother  and  sister  put  him  on  an  equal 
footing  and  made  these  relations  in  some  sort  congenial. 

Nor  was  Clare's  tireless  interest  in  the  little  folks  the  least 
of  her  charms  to  the  young  man.  He  felt,  without  being 
able  to  describe,  a  difference  in  her  treatment  of  him  in 
contrast  with  that  of  other  young  women  whom  he  met. 
She  did  not  hide  a  covert  sneer  or  suggest  ridicule  in  her 
dealings  with  him.  Others  he  felt  to  be  continually  goading 
him  on  to  the  more  fantastic  impulses  in  his  nature.  Their 
very  bearing  was  a  challenge  to  him  to  prank  and  play  the 
fool.  He  could  no  more  resist  the  bedeviling  invitation 
than  a  manikin  to  perform  its  antics  when  the  string  is  pulled. 

To  his  own  surprise  he  began  to  disrelish  Theo  and 
the  society  of  other  women,  and  to  find  an  inexpressible 
pleasure  in  listening  to  the  calm,  high-bred  Clare  prattling 
fairy  stories  to  the  big-eyed  boy  and  girl,  whose  infantile 
imagination  had  been  fed  upon  the  legends  of  Yahoo  Gulch 
and  the  American  civil  war.  Robinson  Crusoe  and  the 
enchanting  Friday  were  as  new  to  them  as  real,  while  the 
Arabian  Nights  filled  their  days  with  joy  and  their  nights 
with  dreams  of  crystal  domes,  magic  carpets,  lovely  sultanas 
and  terrible  giants  with  curling  cimeters  and  dazzling  tur 
bans  !  Nor  were  the  tales  lost  on  the  honest  Lafayette  himself. 

His  youth  and  boyhood  were  passed  among  the  rough 
miners,  where  fairy  lore  had  but  little  vogue,  and  to  Clare's 
amusement  his  were  not  the  smallest  of  the  wondering  eyes 
that  heard  of  this  new  world,  the  charm  of  childhood  and 
its  solace  in  after  years.  Marion  made  Clare  the  confidant 
of  all  his  projects.  He  was  a  naturalist  in  a  small  way  and 


THE  AMBER  EL  VES.  3 1 3 

about  this  time  his  heart  was  set  on  some  rare  turtle  eggs, 
that  the  son  of  the  Crecy  physician  showed  him.  They 
came  from  a  wonderful  island  in  the  Marne,  ten  or  twelve 
miles  from  Crecy,  Theo.  had  told  him,  and  the  boy  was  so 
earnest  in  the  quest  that  Clare  promised  that  he  should  go 
with  Lafayette  and  herself  some  day  when  the  heads  of  the 
mustangs  were  set  in  that  direction.  The  maternal  heart 
swelled  with  complacency  as  the  three  rode  out  of  the  park 
one  afternoon  at  Theo's  suggestion,  after  a  week's  rain  had 
held  every  body  prisoner — a  sort  of  a  summer  equinoctial 
that  often  disturbs  the  French  farmer  near  the  great  water 
ways  of  the  Marne  and  Seine. 

'Twas  the  omniscient  Theo.  who  had  encouraged  the  small 
Marion  to  seek  his  coveted  object  on  the  Marne  Island,  and 
it  was  she  who  suggested  that  the  time  was  promising  when 
the  party  set  out.  It  was  the  day  before  the  great  f$te. 
When  at  midnight  no  sign  of  the  riders  was  seen  at  the  Duclos 
chateau,  Mrs.  Grovel  was  by  no  means  disturbed,  as  she 
supposed  Lafe.  had  stopped  at  Les  Charrnettes.  The  next 
day  at  noon,  in  the  glories  of  the/^/<?,  Theo.  received  a  tele 
gram  from  Paris  which  caused  her  eyes  to  snap  with  triumph. 

Later,  she  received  a  note  from  Clare  reciting  how 
the  party  had  gone  to  the  island  ;  how,  as  darkness  fell, 
they  had  lost  their  boat ;  how,  the  miller  being  away  at 
Meaux  and  the  locks  breaking  loose,  the  island  was  inun 
dated  ;  how  Lafayette  had  done  all  in  mortal  power  to 
rescue  her,  and  even  leaped  into  the  angry  waters  to  swim 
ashore  that  she  might  not  be  compromised  ;  and  how,  hav 
ing  spent  the  night — the  three  on  the  sloping  roof  of  a  half- 
submerged  summer-house — they  were  rescued  in  the  morn 
ing,  and,  arriving  in  Paris,  were  married  in  St.  Philip  du 
Roule  by  Pere  Barodet.  It  was  this  prodigious  realization 
of  her  hopes  that  had  filled  Theo  with  such  aplomb  all  the 
hours  of  Mrs.  Grovel's  feast.  Great  was  the  amazement  of 
the  Grovels  when  Lafayette's  announcement  came.  Theo,  of 
course,  shared  it,  but  skillfully  concealed  that  the  event,  though 


314  TRAJAN. 

thus  forced,  was  only  anticipated.  Jules  looked  at  her 
curiously  as  she  felicitated  Mrs.  Grovel,  and  retired  to  the 
grove  to  give  vent  to  his  emotions  ! 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
PRINCE  CHARMING'S  WOOING. 

prince  did  not  quit  Crecy  the  day  after  the  ball  as 
1  he  had  contemplated.  He  was  neither  warrior  nor 
statesman,  and  the  crisis  in  affairs  did  not  concern  him 
greatly.  His  House  was  Bourbon  in  sympathy,  and  his  heart 
beat  for  France  only  when  he  thought  of  her  legitimate 
sovereign,  Henri  V.,  holding  his  mock  Court  in  the  rollicking 
burg  of  Gratz,  under  the  shadows  of  the  Austrian  Alps. 
The  prince  had  never  taken  any  part  in  the  political  schemes 
of  his  party.  He  recognized  accomplished  facts  and  min 
gled  in  the  pageants  of  the  empire  as  he  would  have 
attended  the  levees  of  the  "  Irreconcilable  "  Gambetta,  had 
he  been  Chief  of  the  State.  He  was  confident  that  sooner 
or  later  France  would  come  back  penitently  to  her  ancient 
princes,  holding  out  piteous  hands  for  the  old  manacles 
that  the  fires  of  1793  had  melted.  Until  the  dawn  of  that 
returning  reason,  he  saw  no  need  of  brooding  in  his  chateau 
like  so  many  of  his  kinsmen  and  compeers.  He  had  been 
born  to  a  great  heritage,  but  until  the  Bourbon  returned, 
it  was  for  the  most  part  titulary.  Parental  waste  had  mate 
rially  lessened  the  revenues  of  his  dukedom.  His  title  of 
prince  was  from  the  Holy  Roman  empire  and  brought  noth 
ing  material  in  France,  where  his  rank  was  really  inferior  to 
that*  of  the  Bourbon,  Orleans,  and  Napoleonic  dukes. 
Unlike  the  De  Broglie,  Rohan  and  Valois,  he  bore  the 
princely  title  in  preference  to  his  ducal  name,  though  in  an 
assemblage  of  his  own  rank  he  gave  precedence  to  a  score  or 
more  titles  of  a  creation  not  anterior  to  his  own.  He  was 


PRINCE  CHARMING 'S  WOOING.  315 

much  more  a  man  of  the  world  than  his  aristocratic  compa 
triots.  He  had  lived  in  England  and  America  and  realized 
the  potency  that  commercial  rank  gives  contemporary  man 
hood.  He  declared  that  if  Henri  V.  were  restored  to  the 
throne  of  his  fathers,  it  would  be  through  the  plutocracy  and 
not  the  idle  dreamers  of  the  noblesse,  and  he  would  have 
named  a  ministry  from  the  great  bankers  and  capitalists 
whose  interests  alone  upheld  the  empire.  It  was  the  dream 
of  the  Empress  to  unite  the  prince  with  the  heiress  of  some 
great  Bonapartist  Crcesus,  and  the  young  Sybarite  had 
encouraged  the  notion — but  had  never  seriously  engaged  in 
the  quest.  He  was  beyond  the  age  of  romantic  attachment 
and  meant  to  make  marriage  a  finality  in  his  ambitious  proj 
ects. 

He  meant,  however,  that  his  princess  should  be  equal 
to  the  great  part  he  proposed  playing,  by  the  posses 
sion  of  beauty,  wit,  and  grace,  as  well  as  the  money  that  was 
essential  to  restore  the  splendors  of  his  patrimony.  Unlike 
most  Frenchmen  he  dreamed  of  making  his  princess  his  wife 
and  companion,  rather  than  his  banker  and  sultana. 

He  had  tasted  all  the  jading  pleasures  of  his  epoch  ;  he  had 
wasted  his  substance  on  the  ephemeral  amours  of  a  riotous 
jeunesse,  but  he  had  settled  down  to  reform,  not  repentance, 
in  a  spirit  of  satiety,  rather  than  the  Prodigal's  self-reproach 
and  filial  yearning.  Marriage  was  necessary  to  him  now  to 
perpetuate  his  name  and  mend  his  fortunes,  but,  if  he  must 
make  a  choice  between  grace,  beauty,  accomplishments  and 
mere  sordid  affluence  without  these,  he  was  determined  that 
his  race  should  be  perpetuated  through  an  alliance  with  the 
former  rather  than  the  latter.  He  was  not  without  educa 
tion  and  great  capacities,  and  he  saw  no  reason  why  he 
should  not  when  the  time  came  revive  the  glories  of  a  Riche 
lieu  or  a  Mazarin.  Italian  blood  was  part  of  his  heritage, 
and  the  restless  ambition  of  that  subtle  and  pre-eminently 
political  race  sustained  his  more  serious  purposes,  even  when 
he  was  most  immersed  in  the  wasting  excesses  of  his  youth. 


316  TRAJAN. 

He  was  now  thirty-five  and  past  the  turbulent  impulses  of 
the  idle  and  irresponsible.  He  saw  things  as  they  were  with  a 
clear  eye  and  unclouded  understanding.  Life  had  lost  a 
young  man's  illusions.  He  was  so  impartial  in  estimating 
the  men  and  events  of  his  time,  that  he  had  scandalized  his 
legitimist  associates,  in  pronouncing  Louis  Bonaparte  the 
profoundest  statesman  and  publicist  since  Henri  IV. 

"  A  vain  egotist,  like  his  great  uncle,"  he  used  to  say, 
"made  the  mistake  of  marrying  into  a  reigning  house,  the 
proudest  in  Europe — where  his  intrusion  was  resented  as 
an  offense.  Louis,  on  the  contrary,  sagaciously  took  his 
empress  from  among  his  own  rank,  wounding  no  suscepti 
bilities  and  continuing  the  democratic  character  of  his 
regime.  His  choice  of  Eugenie,  French  by  descent  and 
Bonapartist  by  tradition,  was  the  master-stroke  of  his  reign." 
He  vaguely  counted  on  something  of  the  same  sort  in  his 
own  scheme  of  marriage. 

It  was  the  knowledge  of  this  that  dictated  Theo's  con 
duct.  She  knew  that  the  reflective  and  ambitious  prince  was 
as  likely  to  ask  her  to  share  his  future  as  any  of  the  women 
whose  chances  seemed  better  ;  in  fact  he  had  as  good  as 
done  it  already,  though  not  in  terms.  She  felt  that  she 
could  aid  him  in  the  ulterior  purposes  of  his  ambition,  and 
though  he  was  not  rich  in  the  English  or  American  estimate 
of  wealth,  she  felt  equal  to  the  restoration  of  his  fortunes, 
should  her  hope  of  sharing  the  Grovel  millions,  or  the  secret 
of  making  others,  succeed.  Now  that  the  first  was  an 
accomplished  fact,  she  felt  the  importance  of  withdrawing 
the  prince  from  the  dangerous  temptation  of  Bella's  pres 
ence.  She  would  have  been  willing  to  see  him  married  to 
the  girl's  millions,  had  her  plan  for  securing  Lafayette  failed. 
With  characteristic  feminine  inconsistency,  she  rejected  the 
idea  of  uniting  Jules  to  Amanda.  Her  pride  revolted  from 
what  she  held  a  sacrifice  of  her  brother's  possibilities. 

A  woman  might  attain  her  husband's  rank,  but  a  man 
could  never  rise  beyond  the  wife's,  unless  he  had  birth  and 


PRINCE  CHARMING 'S  WOOING.  317 

wealth.  She  was  willing,  though  not  eager,  to  have  Jules 
marry  Bella,  before  she  had  made  sure  of  Clare's  consent  to 
accept  Lafayette.  Now  that  the  marriage  was  secured,  she 
began  to  dream  of  a  noble  alliance  for  her  brother  which 
should  give  him  rank,  and  title  at  the  Imperial  Court.  The 
Emperor  had  shown  himself  keenly  appreciative  of  such  sup 
port  to  his  dynasty,  and  she  felt  sure  of  the  necessary  influ 
ence  to  obtain  Jules  the  patent  of  such' a  title  as  a  noble 
marriage  would  give  him  the  right  to  claim. 

These  were  some  of  the  thoughts  that  passed  through  her 
busy  brain  on  reading  Clare's  note.  She  kept  them  from 
her  brother,  however,  for  she  did  not  wholly  trust  his  discre 
tion,  in  the  more  delicate  machinery  of  the  motives  guiding 
her  masculine  handiwork.  There  was  plenty  of  time  before 
maturing  her  plans  to  lead  Jules  insensibly  to  the  part  she 
had  marked  for  him  in  her  imposing  edifice  of  family 
aggrandizement.  When  she  heard  of  the  duel,  therefore, 
she  accepted  the  event  as  another  sign  that  the  machinery 
of  chance  had  turned  entirely  in  her  favor.  Bella  would  be 
forced  to  break  off  for  the  time  being  with  the  prince  to 
devote  herself  to  her  guest,%nd  the  danger  of  an  impulsive 
proposal  from  the  prince  during  Theo's  absence  in  Paris 
would  be  averted.  While  she  was  in  the  field,  she  felt  no 
apprehension. 

She  possessed  the  clews  to  the  prince's  as  yet  inchoate 
purpose  and  she  felt  sure  of  being  able  to  turn  his  pref 
erence  to  herself  when  she  revealed  the  new  possibilities 
of  her  future  to  him.  Of  his  admiration  of  her  address  and 
partiality  for'her  society  she  had  so  many  evidences  that  she 
felt  assured  that  surprising  him  into  a  proposal  was  easily  in 
her  power.  She  was  quick  at  reading  men's  minds  and 
apparently  only  intent  on  amusing  him  by  her  wit  and  daz 
zling  him  by  the  readiness  of  her  repartee;  she  was  really  divin 
ing  the  undercurrent  of  sober  wonder  and  half  resolution,  that 
lay  underneath  her  admirer's  pretended  indifference  to  any 
serious  intention.  She  knew  as  well  as  if  she  had  been  lis- 


3l3  TRAJAN. 

tening  to  the  prince's  monologues,  that  he  had  debated  the 
•project  of  making  her  his  princess — weighing  her  incompar 
able  cleverness  and  amazing  adroitness  in  using  the  grand 
personages  of  the  court  for  her  own  ends,  with  the  dubita- 
ble  advantages  of  a  bride  from  his  own  rank  who  would 
be  merely  an  ornament,  like  his  regalia.  S'.ie  felt  sure  that 
the  Grovel  millions  would  turn  the  scale  in  her  favor,  and  she 
meant  to  make  ample  use  of  them  so  soon  as  Clare's  settle 
ments  were  secure. 

Trajan  in  these  eventful  days  was  mending  swiftly — his 
body,  which,  as  Elliot  said,  looked  like  a  "  Fourth  of  July, 
or  militia  target,"  had  almost  wholly  healed  in  the  third  week 
after  the  encounter.  Elliot,  indeed,  rallied  the  victim  inces 
santly,  addressing  him  as  "  matador,"  "picadore,"  and 
"caballero,"  and  advising  him  to  transfer  his  accomplish 
ments  to  the  bull  ring  of  Seville.  Now  that  the  wounds 
were  healed  the  invalid  was  seated  every  morning  by  the 
broad  bay  window,  where  he  could  watch  the  players  at  ten 
nis  and  study  the  soothing  foliage  of  the  park. 

Through  an  opening  here  and  there,  Crecy  contributed  its 
panorama  of  Norman  angles,  roffnd  steeples,  airy  donjons, 
and  the  wondrous  interlaced  gargoyles  and  arcs-boutants  of 
the  ancient  parish  church  of  Saint  Pierre,  where  of  a  Sunday 
Elliot  had  for  a  time  sat  under  the  good  cure's  ministra 
tion  with  the  devout  Theo.  But  the  irruption  of  Catholics 
in  the  Grovel  household  had  destroyed  the  charm  of  the 
inspiring  old  place,  and  the  prince  had  of  late  replaced 
Elliot  as  Theo's  attendant.  In  churchly  conduct,  the  diplo- 
mate  was  the  most  exemplary  of  devotees.  •  She  had  not 
been  in  Crecy  a  fortnight  when  the  cure  and  congregation 
were  devoted  to  her.  Of  an  afternoon  she  often  entered  the 
choir  and  played  the  organ  for  the  choristers,  and  one  mem 
orable  Sunday,  when  the  soprano  was  detained  by  an 
ailing  child,  she  had  thrilled  the  congregation  by  her  rich 
and  well-trained  voice.  For  Bella,  too,  the  church  had  a 
powerful,  an  irresistible  fascination.  She  had  been  there 


PRINCE  CHARM  ING'S  WOOING.  319 

regularly,  many  Sundays,  before  Elliot  discovered  her 
attendance.  He  was  leaving  the  porch  after  high  mass, 
when  the  beadle,  approaching  him  respectfully,  held  out  a 
diamond-set  locket,  which  he  instantly  recognized  as  one  he 
had  given  Bella  two  years  before  on  her  birthday.  The 
inscription  being  in  English,  the  cure  to  whom  it  had  been 
taken  concluded  that  it  was  Theo's,  and  sent  it  at  once  to 
her  as  she  was  quitting  the  church.  Elliot  was  confounded. 
Could  it  be  possible  Bella  had  been  in  the  church  ?  He 
asked  Theo,  but  she  could  not  answer.  He  waited  until 
all  the  congregation  had  passed  out,  but  there  was  no  sign 
of  his  cousin.  On  reaching  home  he  took  the  jewel  to  his 
cousin's  room,  but  she  was  not  there,  nor  could  she  be  found 
in  the  house.  At  luncheon  he  handed  her  the  token,  enjoy 
ing  her  surprise  and,  he  fancied,  vexation. 

"I  lost  it  this  morning — where  did  you  find  it?"  she  said, 
averting  her  eyes. 

"  I  found  it  in  the  hands  of  the  beadle  of  Saint  Pierre's, 
after  the  mass — were  you  there  ?  " 

"Yes." 

"  Since  when  have  you  become  a  devotee  of  that  faith  ? " 

"  What  faith  ?  " 

"  Saint  Pierre's." 

"  My  conversion  is  coincident  with  yours." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?  I  don't  understand 
you." 

"  It  is  like  all  questions  in  theology,  susceptible  of  two 
interpretations — amuse  your  leisure  by  finding  both,  and 
then  like  a  devout  proselyte  accept  the  most  agreeable  on 
faith." 

'  'Pon  my  word,  Be.lla,  your  profundity — not  to  say 
Germanesque  mysticism,  is  beyond  my  poor  powers — don't  let 
me  burst  in  ignorance  of  the  occult  meaning,  which  doubt 
less  conveys  a  lesson  of  value  to  the  race." 

"  No — people  who  make  mysteries  should  be  apt  at  solv 
ing  enigmas — riddles  are  read  only  by  those  who  believe  in 


320  TRAJAN. 

the  oracle,  and  orphics,  like  love,  permit  no  divided 
mind  !  " 

Elliot  blushed  and  looked  intently  at  his  tormentor. 
"Well,  I  own  that  you  are  talking  in  Greek  tome,  with  your 
orphics,  enigmas,  and  what  not.  Who  is  the  Sibyl,  if  these 
are  orphics — you,  I,  or  the  church  ?" 

"  There  again  my  rule  holds  good — you  can  solve  all 
these  by  constancy — to  the  Sibyl,  when  you  have  given  her 
your  faith." 

"  But  what  have  I  to  do  with  Sibyls  and  faith  ? " 

"  This  is  one  of  the  instances  where  the  doctrine  of  the 
sophists  holds  good,  where  truth  would  be.  unkind  and 
therefore  inartistic." 

"  Pray,  explain,  either  or  both  of  you,"  broke  in  Edith, 
impatiently,  "what  this  academic  talk  all  means.  I  have  heard 
Philip  and  Elliot  talk  in  this  darkly  learned  fashion  before 
now,  but  I  didn't  know  you  were  up  to  it,  Bella  !  " 

"  Perhaps  Bella  would  be  more  puzzled  to  define  what 
she  means,  than  to  continue- — what  the  boys  at  school  used 
to  call  'highfalutin,'  "  explained  Elliot,  still  smarting  from 
the  pundit's  thrusts,  though  he  didn't  know  exactly  why. 

"Yes,  it's  rather  common  for  even  learned  people  to 
make  phrases  they  would  be  as  much  embarrassed  to  define, 
as  grammarians  to  practice  their  own  rules,"  said  Bella,  sen- 
tentiously,  holding  up  a  very  rosy  peach  to  admire  its  fluffy 
coating. 

"  My  ambition,  I  am  not  unduly  proud  to  say,  is  not  in 
that  direction — I  believe  in  saying  what  I  mean  in  such  a 
simple  way  that  there  is  no  danger  of  running  on  rules  or 
breaking  them.  Besides,  rules  are  like  laws,  they  are  made 
only  for  those  who  break  them.  My  ambition  being  modest 
keeps  me  from  the  criminal  dock,  either  judicial  or 
syntactical — " 

"  That's  a  safe  attitude  at  all  events,  and  falls  in  with  the 
doctrine  of  original  sin,  to  which,  as  a  son  of  the  House  of 
Arden,  you  dutifully  subscribe — 


PRINCE  CHARMING S  WOOING.  321 

"  Come,  come,  Bella,  you  are  really  becoming  irritating 
with  your  perverseness,"  remonstrated  her  mother.  "  Elliot 
was  talking  nonsense,  and  his  words  didn't  have  the  remotest 
reference  to  original  sin,"  she  added,  construing  Bella's 
covert  sarcasm  literally. 

"  There,  Elliot,  you  have  ample  revenge,  for  the  remem 
bering  happier  things  is  not  a  heavier  crown  of  sorrow  than 
one's  jokes  taken  au  serieux" 

"  I  must  own  that  your  joking  has  a  sardonic  essence 
to-day,  if  the  fancies  you  have  been  putting  into  words  were 
intended  as  playful  !  " 

"  What  is  your  ambition  ? "  asked  Miss  McNair,  who 
had  listened  attentively  to  what  she  afterward  humorously 
described  as  the  "  spat  "  between  the  cousins. 

"  A  young  man  with  so  little  behind  him,  and  so  clear  a 
field  before  him,  should  do  more  than  dream  dreams,  and 
regulate  his  life  to  the  maintenance  of  a  regiment  of  unlineal 
relations,  through  Adam,  called  servants — which  is  all  that 
people  who  have  a  great  deal  of  money  do  in  this  world  !  " 

"  There  is  too  much  solid  fact  in  that  remark,  Miss 
Kate,"  said  Elliot,  laughing,  "  to  let  one  relish  its  humor. 
But  I  really  have  an  ambition  beyond  promoting  myself  to 
the  post  of  paymaster-general  to  the  small  army  that  serves 
under  the  Arden  banners — whom  you  put  in  the  place  of 
poor  relations.  My  ambition,  then,  is  a  devouring  one — I 
mean  to  master — " 

"  Your  inconsequence  ?  "     (Bella.) 

"  Your  temper  ? "     (Edith.) 

"  Your  avarice  ?  "     (Mrs.  Arden.) 

"  Your  family  ?  "     (Mrs.  Briscoe.) 

"  Your  mother-in-law  ?  "     (Kate.) 

"  No — greater  than  all  these — "  cries  Elliot. 

"  The  English  language  ?  "     (Bella.) 

"The  rule  of  three  ?"     (Edith.) 

"  Your  accounts  ?  "     (Mrs.  Arden.) 

"  Your  vices  ?  "     (Mrs,  Briscoe.) 
21 


322  TRAJAN. 

"  Yourself  ?  "     (Kate.) 

"You've  hit  it.  I  always  did  say  that  for  real  apprecia 
tion  a  man  had  to  go  outside  of  his  own  family." 

"And  for  a  mother-in-law,  too,"  observed  Mistress  Kate, 
glancing  by  the  merest  motion  of  her  sharp  eyes  at 
Bella. 

"Come,  come,  Kate,"  protested  Mrs.  Briscoe,  "you 
forget  that  we  must  be  mothers-in-law  sooner  or  later." 

"  Then  you  may  as  well  be  getting  candles  lighted  and 
the  bells  ready,  with  all  the  wares  in  the  home  market  and 
the  stalls  filled  with  buyers,"  gibed  the  incorrigible  spinster. 

"  That  must  be  meant  for  you,  Edith,"  said  the  uncon 
scious  Mrs.  Briscoe — whereat,  Bella  and  Elliot,  whose  eyes 
met,  burst  into  a  merry  laugh,  which  but  poorly  hid  the 
startled  Edith's  confusion  and  blushes. 

"It  was  in  Benjamin's  sack  the  cup  was  found,  you 
recollect,"  said  the  determined  Kate,  "and  it  was  his 
wicked  brothers  who  put  it  there.  Hac  fabula  docet,  as 
^Esop  says." 

"  And  to  confirm  your  words,  the  wicked  brother  and 
cousin  are  blushing  as  Joseph's  kin  when  the  trick  was 
found  out.  I  fancy,  Kate,  you  are  a  magnet  for  drawing 
the  truth  from  the  guilty,"  insinuated  Mrs.  Briscoe. 

"Yes,  as  was  said  of  Madame  de  Sevigne  ;  she  loved 
verses,  she  praised  verses,  and  she  caused  verses  to  be  writ 
ten.  I  love  the  truth,  I  praise  it,  I  cause  it  to  be  told,  and 
when  it  will  make  my  enemies  uncomfortable,  I  tell  it  my 
self." 

Under  this  characteristic  sally,  the  dinner  broke  up, 
two  of  the  feasters  not  sorry  to  escape  further  inroads  from 
the  audacious  and  observant  cynic.  But  relieved  as 
Bella  and  Elliot  were  to  escape  further  badinage,  I  doubt, 
if  the  question  had  been  asked  them,  if  they  could  have 
replied  what  it  was  that  they  both  feared  to  have  said. 
Elliot  was  conscious  that  the  charm  of  Theo's  satiric 
and  cynical  prattle  had  grown  very  seductive.  He  was 


PRINCE  CHARMING' S  WOOING.  323 

happy  when  she  was  about.  He  made  pretext  for  bringing 
her  near  him,  rather  than  going  to  her.  He  did  not  think 
her  beautiful,  nor  would  he  have  said,  if  analyzing  his  senti 
ments,  that  she  was  dear  to  him  as  Edith.  She  was  not  for 
a  moment  to  be  compared  with  Bella.  Her  beauty  was 
incomparable  to  him.  But  he  felt  about  Bella  that  she  was 
part  of  his  daily  life,  and  that  the  time  would  never  come 
when  she  could  be  any  thing  else.  There  had  been  times  in 
the  past  when  his  passionate  unrest  had  led  him  into  tender 
evidences  of  his  fondness,  which  Bella  had  good-humoredly 
rallied,  or  serenely  ignored.  He  had  fallen  into  a  conviction 
that  they  were  to  go  on  forever,  each  filled  with  the  passive 
forces  of  unspoken  passion — not  perhaps  all  the  world  to 
each  other,  but  essential  to  each  other,  like  the  vestals  of 
Persephone,  joined  only  by  the  sense  of  a  common  ministry. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  explain  this  curious  relation  on  Elliot's 
part  further  than  by  pointing  out  the  obvious  reflection. 
Man  is  the  first  of  all  egoists.  What  he  can  not  get  he  covets, 
not  as  a  gift,  or  reward,  but  as  a  right.  What  he  gets  with 
out  the  play  of  this  master  instinct,  he  undervalues  or  does 
not  value  at  all.  Let  the  most  obvious  of  truisms  illustrate 
this.  Water  and  air  are  vital  to  the  frame,  but  who  in  mil 
lions  ever  stops  to  estimate  them  at  their  true  valuation  ? 
Needful  as  they  are,  they  are  not  less  the  sources  of  the 
most  perfect  gratification  of  the  senses.  There  never  was  a 
dolt,  however  dull,  that  did  not  feel  the  beauty  of  a  fine 
landscape,  yet  without  the  air  there  could  be  no  pleasure  in 
the  landscape,  supposing  that  there  could  be  life,  and  minus 
water  a  landscape  is  but  an  etching  compared  with  a  von 
Ruisdael  or  a  Claude  ! 

Elliot  thought  of  Bella  much  as  he  thought  of  Edith  or 
his  mother,  an  imprescriptible  part  of  himself,  for  whose 
possession  he  was  called  upon  to  make  no  claim.  It  was 
the  vague  proprietorship  that  for  the  moment  held  in  check 
what  may  have  been  dormant  passion.  So  soon  as  his 
egoism  met  a  shock  of  disputation  in  possession,  he  would 


324  TRAJAN. 

burn  with  passionate  desire  for  the  overt  signs  of  preference. 
This  was  the  secret  of  his  gay  indifferentism,  but  it  was  a 
secret,  in  part  at  least,  only  to  himself — Bella  penetrated  the 
casuistry  and  it  filled  her  with  hot  wrath  and  an  impotent 
desire  to  teach  the  complacent  lover  a  lesson,  without  reveal 
ing  either  design  or  handiwork  in  the  operation.  I  do  not 
think  that  she  was  possessed  by  a  devouring  passion  for  her 
cousin.  She  could  not  resist  his  caressing  manners,  his  gay 
sallies,  his  sometimes  profound  tenderness,  and  at  such 
moments  she  could  have  wished  the  sun  of  her  dreams  to 
stand  still  on  the  mountain  of  her  content,  the  moon  of  her 
aspiration  to  rest  on  the  vale  of  her  dimly  discerned  felicity. 
A  shock  to  his  tranquil  sense  of  security  in  Bella's  heart 
would  arouse  Elliot  to  the  expression  of  his  passion,  she  felt, 
but  whether  she  cared  enough  for  the  exhibition  she  was 
herself  uncertain. 

Kate  McNair,  who  was  as  observant  as  she  was  caustic,  or 
caustic  because  she  was  observant,  as  science  learns  its 
potent  secrets  only  by  vivisection,  was  not  in  the  dark  as  to 
the  real  meaning  of  the  comedy  going  on  in  the  chateau, 
though  its  action  was  veiled  by  every  day  conventions. 
She  hinted  this  solution  to  Edith  one  day,  as  the  latter, 
mourning  her  brother's  infatuation  for  the  antipathetic 
Theo,  allowed  an  expression  of  disparagement  to  escape  her. 

Edith,  however,  resented  any  thing  like  egoism  in  her 
brother,  not  quite  understanding  the  objective  sense  in 
which  the  term  was  used.  For  nothing  could  be  more  out 
of  the  line  of  fact  than  to  confuse  Elliot's  unconscious  idea 
of  right  of  possession  in  Bella,  with  the  coarse  selfishness  of 
male  complacency.  The  spirit  that  pervaded  him  was 
rather  the  delight  of  undisputed  precedence  in  the  object  of 
his  love  than  the  self  assertion  of  a  right  due  himself.  He 
was  not,  in  fact,  altogether  sure  that  he  cared  for  the  exclu 
sive  right  to  Bella's  heart,  because  such  an  idea  as  any  one 
else  supplanting  him  had  never  presented  itself  to  him. 

Never  was  there  a  darling  of  family  and  fortune  less  spoiled 


PRINCE  CHARMING' S  WOOING.  325 

by  the  tarnishing  influences  that  these  conditions  almost 
invariably  bring.  He  was  not  self-indulgent,  vainglorious, 
or  meanly  exultant  over  the  merely  sordid  advantages  he 
possessed.  He  was,  in  short,  no  snob.  He  had  no  admira 
tion  for  mean  things,  and  chose  a  kind  way  out  of  any 
embarrassing  dilemma  by  preference  in  every  case  rather 
than  an  unkindly  one.  Though  imprudent  and  indecisive, 
as  his  mother  often  regretfully  declared,  Elliot  ought  to 
have  been  born  in  an  heroic  age,  when  chivalrous  acts  and 
knight-errantry  were  not  ridiculous,  and  sentimentalism  not 
a  sign  of  effeminacy. 

Monseigneur  the  prince,  riding  away  from  the  chateau 
with  Bella  the  next  day,  remarked  Elliot  galloping  ahead 
with  Theo.  "  Monsieur  your  cousin  is  a  beau  cavalier,  a 
very  handsome  young  man,  with  manners  tres  distingue." 

Bella  nodded,  but  did  not  respond. 

"  They  make  a  charming  couple,  the  cavalier  and  the 
spirituelle  Theo,"  continued  Arnboise,  as  if  bent  upon 
extracting  some  sort  of  admission  from  the  lady.  But  Bella 
shot  a  little  ahead  and  made  no- answer.  Reaching  her  side, 
the  prince  continued,  as  the  pretty  picture  of  Theo  became 
indistinct  in  a  bend  of  the  roud.  "  Miss  Carnot  is  a  phe 
nomenal  spirit  ;  she  is  the  readiest  wit  I  ever  encountered — 
I  envy  your  kinsman  his  conquest." 

"  When  we  can  afford  to  envy  conquests,  they  don't 
affect  us  much.  What  we  really  hold  for  conquest,  we  are 
stimulated  to  win,  or  strive  to  dispute  on  the  part  of 
others.  Envy  is  the  Platonic  sentiment  of  ambition,  men 
never  envy  what  they  really  covet — I  mean,  that  if  you 
thought  my  cousin  to  be  envied,  you  would  not  yield  the 
prize  that  makes  him  enviable." 

"  Mademoiselle,  you  take  our  French  manner  of  speaking 
too  seriously  ;  you  make  abstractions  of  points  one  is  content 
to  generalize  on.  I've  no  doubt  you  are  right,  but  a  man 
can  really  envy  the  possession  to  another  of  what  he  relin 
quishes  in  the  hope  of  something  more  desirable,"  and  the 


326  TRAJAN. 

prince  came  closer  and  tried  to  catch  his  companion's 
eye. 

"  We  have  a  homely  proverb,  for  which  I  remember  no 
equivalent  in  French:  'a  bird  in  the  hand  is  worth  two  in 
the  bush."' 

"  Yes,  our  tongue  has  two  or  three  covering  the  same 
thought  and  quite  as  cleverly  said,  but  the  phrase  does  not 
fit  my  case  ;  I  didn't  mean  to  imply  that  I  felt  confident  that 
I  could  win  Miss  Carnot  from  her  knight,  even  if  I  were 
disposed." 

"  Let  us  amend  the  adage  then  :  birds  in  the  bush  wait 
for  the  hand  of  a  prince,"  and  Bella,  touching  her  horse, 
swept  out  of  hearing  of  the  prince's  rejoinder.  I  am  afraid 
Bella  would  have  repented  the  speech  had  she  caught  the 
expression  that  followed. 

"  Quel  aplomb,  quelle  coquette"  as  the  astonished  prince 
hastened  to  come  up  with  the  flying  "  coquette,"  but  even 
had  he  desired  to  pursue  the  previous  conversation,  she 
showed  that  it  no  longer  interested  her.  When  an  hour  or 
two  later  he  touched  his  hat  to  the  young  lady  after  giving 
his  hand  to  her  to  dismount  at  Les  Charmettes,  he  rode  away 
convinced  that  she*  was  won,  and  that  to  make  her  his 
princess  he  had  but  to  go  through  the  prescribed  forms  of 
his  country. 

The  same  evening  the  prince's  secretary  arrived  as  special 
embassador  to  the  court  of  beauty,  with  a  document  for 
"  Madame,  Veuve  Briscoe,"  emblazoned  with  the  crest  of  the 
House  of  Amboise,  an  eagle  and  griffin,  bearing  a  serpent 
in  their  claws.  In  this  protocol  Eugene  Amedee  Frangois 
Pierre  Frederic  de  Grimaldi-Vintimille — Prince  d'Amboise, 
Duke  de  Charlroi,  Marquis  de  Quatrelieus  and  Comte  de 
Rire,  had  the  honor  of  requesting  an  interview  with 
Madame,  Veuve  Briscoe  upon  matters  deeply  concerning 
the  interests  of  madame's  and  his  own  family,  and  that, 
meanwhile,  he  was  of  madame,  with  the  expression  of  his 
consideration  and  homages,  the  most  faithful  and  obedient 
servant  "  Fran£ois  d'Amboise." 


PRINCE  CHARMING S   WOOING.  327 

Mrs.  Briscoe  read  this  elaborate  pour-paries  in  speechless 
astonishment.  She  had  barely  spoken  to  the  great  person 
age,  and  not  familiar  with  French  usages,  she  had  only  a 
dim  notion  of  what  it  implied.  That  it  had  something  to  do 
with  Bella,  she  was  certain,  but,  basing  her  reasoning  upon 
American  methods,  she  assumed  that  her  daughter  must 
have  given  the  suitor  permission  to  speak.  This  surprised 
her,  for  the  confidence  between  mother  and  daughter  was 
close.  There  had  never  been  any  secrets  between  them,  so 
far  as  she  knew.  She  had  set  her  heart  upon  a  different 
fate  for  Bella,  but  had  been  careful  to  let  no  sign  of  her 
desire  escape  her  in  Bella's  presence.  She  gave  the  secre 
tary  a  note  informing  the  prince  that  she  would  receive  him 
at  noon  the  next  day,  and  hastened  to  her  sister  to  discuss 
the  extraordinary  event. 

Mrs.  Arden  was  a  good  deal  startled.  Immersed  in  the 
care  of  her  invalid  guests,  she  had  seen  nothing  of  the 
current  that  had  set  in  about  the  personages  of  the 
drama  going  on  about  her.  She  was  familiar  enough  with 
French  usages  to  divine  the  meaning  of  the  request,  but  not 
knowing  how  much  Bella  and  the  prince  had  been  together, 
was  puzzled  at  its  unexpected  promptness.  She  knew  that 
matters  of  this  sort  were  very  formal  and  very  deliberate,  and 
she  could  not  comprehend  the  prince's  precipitancy.  "But," 
she  added,  after  the  strange  event  had  been  talked  over, 
"  there  is  nothing  to  do  but  to  find  out  what  Bella  wants  done. 
She  has  probably  authorized  the  prince  to  act.  Put  the  affair 
in  her  hands."  This  was  Mrs.  Briscoe's  idea  from  the  first, 
and  she  hastened  to  find  her  daughter.  But  Bella  had  dis 
appeared.  The  maid  said  she  had  gone  to  ride  with 
the  Vicomte  de  Bellechasse,  and  did  not  know  when  she  would 
be  back. 

When  Bella  returned  late  in  the  afternoon  she  was  strangely 
agitated,  and  when  her  mother  entered  her  room  she  was 
lying  down,  her  face  buried  in  the  pillows.  Greatly  alarmed, 
Mrs.  Briscoe  raised  her  head.  Her  eyes  were  red,  and 


328  TRAJAN. 

there  were  signs  of  tears  in  them.  To  her  mother's  agitated 
inquiries  the  girl  made  no  response,  save  to  beg  that  she 
would  not  pursue  the  subject.  She  had  been  very  wicked, 
she  sobbed,  and  must  endure  the  punishment  she  had 
brought  upon  herself.  It  was  in  this  frame  of  mind  she 
learned  the  request  of  the  Prince  d'Amboise.  She  paled  to 
a  deadly  whiteness  as  her  mother  read  the  note,  and  flung 
herself  in  a  paroxysm  of  despair  upon  the  bed.  Her 
mother,  unable  to  comprehend  the  situation,  sat  down, 
exhausting  all  her  resources  in  soothing  the  inexplicable 
outburst.  Wisely  giving  up  all  attempts  at  forcing  an 
explanation,  the  mother  sat  silent,  waiting  for  the  emotion 
to  settle  into  quiet.  But  when  the  dinner  hour  came  Bella 
gave  no  sign  of  going  down.  Her  sobs  had  ceased,  and  as 
her  mother  moved  about  preparing  to  go,  she  said  without 
looking  up  : 

"  I  shall  not  go  to  dinner.  My  head  is  bursting  and  I 
could  not  eat."  The  mother  sighed,  but  made  no  answer. 
When  she  had  gone  from  the  room,  Bella  got  up  and  sank 
into  a  seat  by  the  window.  The  tears  had  left  their  traces 
on  face  and  eyes.  She  was  composed  enough  now,  but 
there  was  a  weary  frightened  look  in  the  eyes.  She  clasped 
her  hands  and  wrung  them  in  the  penitence  of  a  guiltless 
Magdalen.  The  years  of  her  life  passed  in  swift  procession 
before  her,  all  joyous  and  unbroken  by  grief  until  now.  She 
repented  bitterly  excluding  Edith  from  her  confidence. 

Her  impulsive  directness  would  have  withheld  her  from  the 
wicked  course  she  had  been  following.  She  would  have 
kept  her  from  the  crime  of  wrecking  the  hearts  of  two  men, 
the  ghosts  of  whose  ruined  happiness  she  felt  with  a  shud 
der  of  horror,  would  haunt  her  the  rest  of  her  years.  She 
had  only  meant  to  publish  her  indifference  to  the  fickle 
trifler  who  had  declared  himself  a  thousand  times  and  then 
abandoned  the  pursuit,  without  giving  her  a  chance  to  ques 
tion  her  own  heart.  In  the  swirl  of  the  passions  tearing  her 
heart-strings,  she  held  Elliot  innocent,  for  she  had  willfully 


PRINCE  CHARMING' S  WOOING.  329 

held  him  at  arm's  length,  and  if  he  finally  took  her  at  her  word 
her  own  persistent  action  implied,  and  had  set  out  in  search 
of  another,  he  was  blameless  in  the  matter.  But  her  own 
misery  was  now  redoubled,  for  in  her  silly  desire  to  con 
vince  him  that  she  had  never  claimed  him,  she  had  gone  so 
far  that  first  Bellechasse,  and  now  the  prince,  held  her  to  a 
reckoning. 

For  her  agitation  on  returning  from  the  ride  was  the  result 
of  a  declaration  the  young  vicomte  had  made  her,  in 
which,  with  great  modesty  and  good  sense,  he  had  told  her 
that,  making  all  allowance  for  the  wider  freedom  accorded 
American  young  ladies,  he  had  thought  himself  justified  in 
believing  that  Miss  Briscoe's  evident  pleasure  in  his  com 
pany  warranted  him  in  construing  his  suit  as  acceptable  to 
her.  The  young  fellow  intimated,  with  amusing  frankness, 
that  he  had  begun  his  pursuit,  like  most  Frenchmen,  think 
ing  most  of  the  dazzling  fortune  of  the  girl,  but  Bella's 
beauty  had  in  a  very  short  time  turned  the  suit  into  pas 
sionate  adoration.  Had  she  been  poor  as  one  of  his  old 
flames,  the  grisettes  of  the  Latin  Quarter,  he  would  have 
still  counted  her  hand  the  perfect  joy  of  his  life.  Indeed  it 
was  not  possible  to  come  within  the  orbit  of  the  girl  and  not 
surrender  to  her  rare  charm  ! 

I  have  purposely  refrained  from  the  attempt  to  set  forth 
the  fascinations  of  her  mind  and  person.  Anti-typical  to 
Theo  in  every  thing,  Bella  shared  her  rare  wit,  only  it  was  of 
a  more  queenly  expression.  Where  Theo  flattered  the 
amour propre  of  those  she  set  out  to  captivate,  Bella  exacted 
homage  by  a  conscious,  but  subtly  unobtrusive,  subordinated 
imperiousness,  like  a  sovereign  who  looks  the  command  she 
has  no  need  to  utter.  Theo  won  the  devotion  of  men  and 
the  admiration  of  women  by  an  insensible  deference  to  their 
egotisms,  Bella  by  a  profound  indifference  to  them.  The 
prince,  for  example,  found  Theo's  sparkling  epigrams  irre 
sistible,  because,  however  audacious,  they  implied  a  defer 
ence  to  his  superior  insight  and  commanding  intellect, 


33°  TRAJAN. 

based  upon  that  strongest  appeal  that  can  be  made  to  man, 
the  confession  of  a  knowledge  of  his  nature  and  the  study 
of  its  working.  Theo's  most  thoughtless  levities  left  the 
impression  that  she  had  penetrated  the  deeps  of  the  nature 
she  satirized,  and  found  so  much  there  beyond  her  power  to 
appropriate,  that  in  despair  she  was  forced  to  bring  away 
only  the  lightness  and  inconsequence. 

Bella,  on  the  contrary,  gave  the  impression  of  looking  to 
the  depths  and  coming  away  indifferent  to  the  revelations 
her  comprehensive  glances  had  mastered.  But  with  all  this 
there  was  no  suggestion  of  blue-stockingism  in  her  manner 
with  strangers.  It  was  only  in  her  own  family  that  Bella 
played  the  part  of  Bohemian  Queen,  and  let  her  speech  run 
away  with  her  in  the  shallow  abstrusities  that  lingered  in 
her  mind  from  her  readings  of  philosophical  novels  and  the 
insipid  psychological  studies  of  the  German  school.  She 
had  no  suspicion  that  her  somewhat  didactic  union  with 
the  vicomte  could  put  such  a  thing  as  love  in  his  mind  any 
more  than  the  volatile  nothings  she  had  interchanged  with 
the  prince. 

Her  state  of  mind  was  the  complement  to  that  of  Elliot's 
in  his  pursuit  of  Theo.  She  had  come  to  regard  his 
court  to  herself  as  so  natural  and  irreversible,  that,  with 
out  making  a  sign  for  its  continuance  or  even  admitting 
the  pleasure  of  it,  she  had  come  to  regard  it  as  her  right 
—as  a  queen  looks  upon  the  bent  knee  when  her  courtiers 
come  before  her.  The  transfer  of  this  allegiance  to  Theo, 
at  first  puzzled,  then  angered,  and  then  grieved  her. 
Pride  restrained  her  from  any  sign  that  might  have 
warned  Elliot,  who  was  both  blind  and  unconscious  until  he 
had  lost  all  memory  of  any  thing  but  the  delight  of  walk 
ing,  talking  and  studying  the  bizarre  nature  of  the  enchan 
tress,  alternately  piqued  by  her  studied  indifference  and  her 
seductive  confidences.  That  Elliot  was  lost  to  her,  Bella 
owned  in  her  heart,  with  anguish  that  made  her  shrink  from 
herself  in  a  sense  of  loathing  and  abasement. 


PRINCE  CHARMING  S  WOOING.  331 

There  was  no  comfort  in  the  sophistication  that  she  had 
sedulously  repulsed  his  tenderness  in  the  old  days  when  she 
had  lulled  her  heart  by  the  delusion  that  she  had  no  need  of 
love,  or  if  she  must  love,  she  would  wait  for  some  heroic 
knight  to  win  her  hand  by  some  romantic  prowess — a  union 
which  should  take  her  destiny  quite  out  of  the  common 
place.  She  knew,  though  nothing  had  ever  been  said  to  her 
on  the  .subject,  that  her  mother  and  Mrs.  Arden  had  set 
their  hearts  on  the  marriage,  and  the  knowledge  had  ruled 
her  conduct  for  years.  She  had  resented  the  disposal  of 
her  heart  in  this  pragmatic  sanction.  It  was  the  little  maid 
Edith  herself,  who  adored  Bella  only  in  a  degree  second  to 
her  brother,  who  had  incited  this  revolt  against  the  very  end 
she  cherished.  For  she  knew  Elliot's  mind  and  his  dream 
of  winning  Bella.  The  late  infatuation  for  Theo  had 
estranged  the  two  girls.  They  no  longer  talked  over  the 
events  of  the  day  in  their  chamber,  as  they  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  doing.  Both  pretended  to  attribute  this  to  the 
abnormal  condition  of  affairs  in  the  chateau,  where  the  care 
of  the  invalids  naturally  fell  upon  them,  as  members  of  the 
family.  Bella  herself  felt  it  a  duty  to  devote  her  time  to 
Trajan,  whose  conduct  had  won  her  affection,  and  Edith,  in 
her  timid  soul,  sometimes  thought  her  heart.  For  this  was 
the  very  knight-errantry  that  Bella  had  always  babbled  of  in 
her  confidence  to  her  cousin. 

Nothing  was  said  at  the  dinner  table  about  the  impending 
proposal. 

Elliot  regretted  that  the  vicomte,  whom  he  had  met  en 
route  to  the  station,  was  summoned  to  join  his  general,  who 
was  to  command  the  advance  division  of  the  army  already 
at  Saarbrucken,  near  the  Rhine.  He  wondered  that  the 
prince,  who  was  known  to  be  ambitious,  and  \vhose  family 
had  given  marshals  to  France,  did  not  set  off  with  his  com 
rades,  but  supposed  he,  too,  would  be  on  the  inarch  before 
the  combat  was  joined.  As  for  himself,  he  felt  half  inclined 
to  agree  with  Trajan  and  take  up  a  musket,  and  to  the  shriek 


332  TRAJAN. 

of  reproachful  protest  that  followed,  he  gravely  argued  his 
duty  in  the  matter,  unblushingly  reiterating  the  arguments 
he  had  contested  when  uttered  by  the  invalid  up  stairs  !  To 
which  he  added  the  sage  reflection  that  his  own  country 
might  some  time  need  his  services,  and  an  experience  gained 
in  the  foremost  army  of  Europe  would  be  of  value. 

The  mother  and  aunt  resumed  the  discussion  of  the 
prince's  proposal,  when  the  family  dispersed  from  the  din 
ner  table.  Mrs.  Arden  was  overwhelmed  when  her  sister 
revealed  Bella's  manner  of  receiving  the  news.  She  could 
not  conceive  the  prince  venturing  to  propose  formally  for 
the  girl's  hand  without  letting  Bella  know  of  his  purpose. 
It  was  agreed  that  she  should  join  her  sister  and  find  out 
the  facts.  Bella  was  sitting  in  the  embrasure  of  the  window, 
her  eyes  fixed  on  the  trees  without,  where  the  twilight  was 
veiling  them  in  transparent  mist.  Her  aunt  kissed  her  ten 
derly,  and  was  a  good  deal  startled  at  her  white  face  and 
tell-tale  eyes. 

"  You've  had  nothing  to  eat,  child  ;  I  sent  your  dinner  up, 
hoping  you  could  eat  something,"  she  said,  glancing  at  the 
untouched  tray  on  the  table. 

"  No  ;  I'm  nervous,  and  don't  feel  at  all  like  eating,"  said 
Bella,  in  a  constrained  weary  voice. 

The  little  group  sat  a  good  while  in  silence.  The  dark 
ness  fell,  and  when  Mrs.  Briscoe  got  up  to  ring  for  lights 
Bella  asked  that  they  should  not  come  until  bedtime.  Then 
Mrs.  Arden  nervously  spoke  of  the  prince's  letter,  and  the 
necessity  of  accepting  or  refusing  the  proposal  he  was 
plainly  about  to  make.  Bella  shivered  a  little  as  her  aunt 
began  to  talk,  but  when  she  finished  there  was  no  response. 

"  You  know,  Bella,  Frenchmen  are  very  punctilious  in 
these  affairs,  and  though  you  may  have  accepted  him  your 
self"— 

"  I  never  accepted  him  !  I  never  " — broke  out  the  girl 
.vehemently,  and  then  stopped,  suddenly  conscious  that  she 
had  fallen  into  the  very  trap  laid  under  her  eyes.  Now,  the 


PRINCE  CHARMING' S  WOOING.  333 

amazing  state  of  the  girl's  mind  was  her  indecision  as  to  the 
answer  the  prince  should  receive.  She  had  never  for  a 
moment  dreamed  that  he  had  any  other  motive  in  seeking 
her  than  pastime  :  in  fact,  she  had  never  thought  of  his 
motive.  She  accepted  his  devotions  hardly  conscious  that 
they  were  marked,  and  certainly  unconscious  that  they  were 
significant.  She  would  have  looked  upon  a  proposal  rather 
as  an  amusing  diversion,  had  the  blank  face  and  sad  eyes 
of  the  vicomte  not  risen  in  her  mind  as  a  perpetual  reminder 
of  her  guilty  trifling.  During  the  long  hours  of  anguish 
since  she  learned  of  the  prince's  purpose  she  had  reflected 
on  the  miserable  dilemma  her  own  heedlessness  and  folly 
had  brought  about.  As  to  loving  him,  or  being  his  wife,  the 
very  suggestion  was  horrible  ;  for  Bella,  with  all  her  book- 
knowledge,  was  naively  ignorant  in  things  that  any  shal 
low  fashionable  girl  could  have  instructed  her  in. 

She,  as  you  see,  believed,  like  a  simpleton,  that  marriage  im 
plied  love.  When  she  first  thought  of  the  prince  in  the  light 
of  a  pretender  for  her  hand  a  few  hours  before,  the  very  sug 
gestion  was  repulsive.  But  with  the  hours  of  reflection  a 
new  image  had  replaced  the  first.  He  was  not  in  the  prime 
of  his  first  youth,  like  Elliot.  He  was  not  so  attractive  in 
face,  figure,  or  carriage  as  the  man  she  had  refused  a  few 
hours  before,  but  he  was  a  handsome  and  imposing  man. 

She  began  vaguely  to  fancy  that  it  would  be  a  heroic 
resolve  to  force  herself  to  love  this  great  nobleman,  who  was 
about  to  fling  aside  family  traditions  and  the  practices  of  his 
station  and  ask  her  to  become  his  princess.  She  wondered 
if  he  would  pain  her  as  the  poor  vicomte  had  pained  her  by 
the  mute  reproach  of  his  wounded  love,  the  half  sob  in  his 
voice,  as  he  said  simply  : 

"  Mademoiselle,  you  must  pardon  the  presumptuous  error 
of  one  who,  loving  you,  and  not  fully  understanding  the  man 
ners  of  your  country,  misconstrued  your  kind  and  frank  wel 
come  for  a  deeper  feeling.  It  is  all  my  own  fault,  and  you 
have  nothing  to  reproach  yourself  with.  I  shall  always  love 
you,  but  I  shall  see  you  no  more." 


334  TRAJAN. 

She  had  been  smitten  with  a  choking  of  guilt  and  pity. 
What  would  not  she  have  given  to  be  able  to  believe  that 
the  generous  lad  spoke  the  truth  ;  that  her  coquetry  had  not 
warranted  his  heart  in  opening  into  love.  Would  the  prince 
have  the  same  reproach  to  make  ?  She  thought  over  all  that 
had  passed  between  them,  and  she  groaned  in  an  abandon 
ment  of  perplexity,  because  she  had  allowed  herself  a  gayer 
liberty  with  him  than  with  the  other. 

Such  a  thing  as  a  serious  purpose  on  his  part  she  would 
have  scouted  twenty-four  hours  before.  Bringing  conscience, 
quick  with  the  sins  committed  against  the  vicomte,  to  bear, 
she  felt,  with  the  shrinking  horror  of  the  martyr,  that  she  was 
called  upon  to  immolate  herself  upon  the  pyre  her  thought 
lessness  and  guilt  had  upreared.  This  was  the  confused 
state  in  which  her  mother  and  Mrs.  Arden  found  her.  But 
the  resolution  which  was  easy  to  caress  in  fancy,  was  a  far 
more  formidable  thing  when  she  was  called  upon  to  act. 
She  must  now  say  yes,  or  no,  as  decisively  as  if  the  prince 
was  before  her,  and  all  the  doubt  and  trembling  of  the  past 
three  hours  condensed  and  intensified  themselves  in  a  lurid 
specter,  that  hovered,  shadowy  and  dreadful,  in  the  rosy  hor 
izon  of  that  future  which  had  been  her  dream  by  night,  her 
vision  by  day. 

"You  know,  my  child,  that  I  must  have  your  answer 
before  I  can  meet  the  prince,"  said  her  mother,  taking  the 
troubled  head  in  her  hands,  and  kissing  the  feverish  fore 
head.  "  I  declare,  Bella,  you  are  really  ill  ;  you  must 
go  to  bed,  and,  above  all,  you  must  eat  something,"  the  two 
panaceas  that  occur  to  woman's  mind  as  spontaneously, 
in  whatever  crisis,  as  leeching  to  the  practitioners  of 
other  days.  The  girl  got  up  wearily  and  threw  herself  on 
the  bed,  while  Mrs.  Arden,  rising,  ventured  a  little  joke 
about  "no  crown  coming  without  its  cross."  But  Bella 
had  no  repartee  for  what  under  ordinary  circumstances 
would  have  excited  a  nimble  dart.  The  crown  she  thought 
of  with  a  shudder,  for  it  would  encircle  a  brow  unworthy  to 


PRINCE  CHARM  ING'S  WOOING.  335 

wear  it,  the  heart  not  going  with  it.  Whimsically  enough, 
this  chance  suggestion  reminded  her  of  something  she  had 
left  out  of  her  previous  troubled  gropings.  She  would  be  a 
princess  ;  she  would  wear  an  imperial  coronet,  the  ducal 
crown  of  the  Grimaldi,  the  tiara  of  a  marquisate.  A  throb 
of  exultation  sent  the  blood  in  a  rush  through  her  veins. 
She  should  take  precedence  of  the  greatest.  At  court  she 
would  be  only  a  remove  from  royalty.  She  could  by  a  word 
be  the  proudest  dame  in  France — an  individuality  among 
the  noblesse  of  the  continent. 

"  Mamma,"  she  said  suddenly,  her  eyes  gleaming  in -the 
darkness,  "let  this  question  rest  until  morning.  I  will 
tell  you  what  to  say  then.  I  want  the  night  to  think  it 
over." 

"  Bella,  dear,  in  a  matter  of  this  sort,  reflection  is  destruc 
tion.  Love  or  marriage  is  not  a  question  that  is  aided  by 
counsel.  You  either  do,  or  do  not  love  the  prince  ;  if  you 
love  him,  it  will  be  a  crime  against  yourself  to  refuse  him  ; 
if  you  do  not  love  him,  it  will  be  a  crime  against  him,  a  sin 
of  the  most  guilty  sort,  to  accept  him,"  and  the  mother  took 
the  troubled  head  on  her  breast. 

"  Ah,  mamma,  you  don't  know  how  wicked  I  have  been  ; 
I  must  punish  myself  and  make  atonement,  and  I  think  I 
shall  be  equal  to  it  in  the  morning.  I  am  weak  to-night. 
Ah,  my  poor  mother,  if  you  knew  how  wicked  I  have  been, 
you %would  command  me  to  do  some  fearful  penance." 

"  I  can  imagine  how  wicked  you  have  been,  my  darling  ; 
I  think  I  comprehend  it.  You  have  made  Elliot  miserable  ? 
Well,  he  is  a  man  and  must  bear  his  grief." 

"  Why,  mamma,  what  can  you  mean  ?  "  cried  Bella,  rising 
and  turning  to  see  her  mother's  face  in  the  darkness. 
"  Elliot  !  What  have  I  done  to  him  ? " 

"  You  certainly  must  have  seen,  my  daughter,  that  your 
cousin  adores  you,  and — and — 

"  Why,  mother,  you  are  dreaming  ;  Elliot  is  at  this  moment 
infatuated  with  Miss  Carnot — very  likely  engaged  !  " 


33^  TRAJAN. 

Mrs.  Briscoe  was  thunderstruck.  Elliot's  union  with 
Bella  she  had  regarded  as  a  settled  thing.  His  looks  had 
told  the  story  any  time  for  a  year  or  more.  When  her 
daughter  reproached  herself  with  wickedness  she  took  it  for 
granted  that  it  was  her  capricious  treatment  of  her  cousin's 
love.  The  mother  at  this  new  complication  grew  seriously 
alarmed.  What  did  Bella  mean  ?  What  wickedness  could 
she  have  upon  her  mind,  if  Elliot  were  not  the  victim  ? 

"What  do  you  mean,  Bella,  by  being  wicked  ?  I  thought 
you  were  reproaching  yourself  for  wounding  Elliot.  I  can 
not  allow  you  to  talk  in  this  careless  way  ;  tell  me  all,  my 
child.  Your  mother  alone  can  aid  you  if  sinless,  and  com 
fort  you  if  in  fault."  Bella  began  at  the  beginning,  blush 
ing  scarlet  as  she  was  forced  in  justification  to  make  more  or 
less  apparent  the  wounded  love  that  had  driven  her  to  her 
idle  coquetry.  When  the  tale,  which  was  told  with  many 
tears  and  prayers  for  pardon,  was  done,  Mrs.  Briscoe  kissed 
the  facile  sinner,  and  said,  with  a  sigh  of  relief  : 

"You  have  acted  with  imprudence — almost  heartlessness. 
I  am  afraid  you  have  driven  Elliot  into  an  engagement  that 
can  only  result  in  bitterness  and  misery  for  him  and  his 
family.  But  you  have  not  been  wicked.  You  must  refus-e 
the  prince's  offer,  unless  you  are  certain  that  he  can  inspire 
you  with  a  genuine  love.  Do  not  make  the  awful  mistake 
of  confusing  rank  with  love.  He  may  be  honestly  in  love 
with  you.  If  he  is,  you  will  soon  discover  it.  You  can 
refuse  to  engage  yourself  until  you  have  examined  yourself 
and  studied  him.  If  he  loves  you,  he  will  be  better  satisfied 
to  have  you  deal  frankly  with  him.  If  he  does  not,  you  will 
be  saved  from  a  wreck  compared  to  which  the  most  trying 
vicissitudes  of  life  are  a  mere  May  shower."  And  so  Bella, 
greatly  comforted  in  her  troubled  mind,  slept  the  dream 
less  sleep  of  the  repentant  and  forgiven  that  night,  and  the 
next  morning  the  prince  received  the  answer  which  the 
prudence  pf  mamma  suggested.  The  great  man  was  inex 
pressibly  astonished.  It  required  all  the  breeding  and 


PRINCE  CHARMING' S   WOOING.  337 

savoir  faire  of  his  rank  to  enable  him  to  comprehend 
that  he,  the  descendant  of  ten  centuries  of  kings  and 
princes,  who  had  been  angled  for  by  court  belles — 
ladies  of  his  own  rank,  should  be  put  on  probation  like  a 
mere  adventurer  or  parvenu  bourgeois.  There  was  consid 
erably  less  languor  in  the  princely  figure,  less  indifference  in 
the  high-bred  drawl,  as  he  replied  with  irreproachable  polite 
ness,  "  Madame  is  right.  I  have  been  too  precipitate.  Make 
my  homages  to  mademoiselle  your  daughter,"  and  bowing 
with  grave  dignity,  he  quit  the  room. 

"What  in  the  world  is  the  prince  doing  here  this  time  of 
day  ?  "  said  Elliot  as,  standing  at  Trajan's  window,  he  caught 
sight  of  the  suitor  getting  into  his  vehicle. 

"  He  came  by  arrangement  to  ask  your  aunt  for  your 
cousin  Bella  in  marriage,"  said  his  mother  calmly,  moving 
to  the  mantel-shelf.  The  young  man  dropped  into  a  seat  as 
if  shot. 

"  And  he — he — has  been  accepted  ?" 

u  And  he  has  been  refused  !  " 

Had  the  far-seeing  Theo  arranged  the  complexity  to  keep 
Elliot  still  uncertain,  she  could  not  have  wrought  to  better 
purpose  ;  if  Bella  had  not  accepted  the  prince,  she  was  to 
be  had  for  the  effort,  whenever,  if  ever,  he  saw  fit  to  make 
it.  Possession  is  not  only  nine  points  of  the  law,  in  life  it 
is  the  pretext  of  a  good  deal  of  the  folly  men  commit  in 
love. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

"  TO  BE  WROTH  WITH  ONE  WE  LOVE    DOTH  WORK  LIKE  MAD 
NESS  IN  THE  BRAIN." 

PHILIP'S  disaster  had  divided  the  family  forces  at  Les 
I  Charmettes.  Before  that  misfortune  Trajan's  room 
had  become  a  sort  of  general  rendezvous.  So  soon  as  his 
wounds  would  bear  it,  he  was  put  in  a  chair  and  wheeled  to 
22 


338  TRAJAN. 

the  open  window,  where  reclining  in  enfeebled  animation, 
he  listened,  without  taking  part  in  the  family  confidences. 
For  the  young  man  had  become  tacitly  a  member  of  the 
family.  Mrs.  Briscoe,  to  her  own  no  small  surprise,  found 
herself  addressing  her  charge,  for  it  was  she  who  asserted  a 
motherly  responsibility  in  him,  as  Trajan — quite  as  naturally 
as  she  called  her  nephew  by  his  given  name.  From  this  in 
fraction  of  the  ceremonious  to  a  general  disregard  there  was 
but  a  short  term,  and  when  the  young  man  was  able  to  move 
about,  Trajan  was  the  name  by  which  the  whole  family  ad 
dressed  him.  The  habit  had  a  humanizing  and  potent  effect 
on  the  homeless  youth.  He  heard  it  with  something  of  the 
grateful  joy  a  man  feels,  who,  traveling  for  seasons  in  a 
strange  land,  comes  suddenly  upon  a  group  who  speaks  his 
own  tongue. 

As  once  upon  a  time  journeying  in  Morocco  this  histo 
rian,  abandoned  for  two  months  to  the  meager  linguistic 
acquirements  of  Arabs,  Spaniards,  and  Moors,  came  one 
day  in  the  prophet's  mountains,  over  against  the  sacred 
city  of  Tetaun,  upon  a  company  of  his  Yankee  countrymen, 
whose  voices  sounded  sweeter  than  marriage  bells,  whose 
artless  and  comminatory  criticisms  of  the  land,  its  manners, 
and  people,  seemed  as  profoundly  sententious  as  the  studies 
of  La  Bruyere,  or  the  maxims  of  La  Rochefoucauld.  Bella, 
thus  addressing  her  hero  for  the  first  time,  by  pure  accident, 
blushed  bewitchingly  and  then  explained,  that  she  felt  quite 
like  a  Roman,  in  the  days  of  the  Caesars,  the  name  revived 
so  much  of  the  classic. 

"  It's  a  sad  burden  for  such  a  commonplace  fellow  as  I 
am,"  said  Trajan  smiling,  "  but  my  poor  father,  who 
frightened  my  mother  into  it  by  a  more  trying  alternative, 
1  Aurelian,'  fondly  hoped  that  it  would  inspire  me  to 
great  deeds.  He  lived  in  the  past  and  thought  that  mod 
ern  men  were  in  every  way  inferior  to  the  Romans. 

"  Among  his  papers  we  found  a  plan  for  the  naming  of  his 
children.  The  boys  were  to  be  Trajan,  Aurelian,  Terence, 


"TO  BE   WROTH  WITH  ONE   WrE  LOVE"          339 

Ovid,  Thucydides,  Tiberius,  Haphaestion,  Antinous — fancy 
a  red-haired,  frowsy  Antrim  lad,  struggling  all  his  life  under 
such  a  name  as  Antinous" — and  the  young  man's  gored  torso 
shook  till  he  coughed  with  pain.  "  My  father's  great  purpose 
was  to  reconstruct  the  characters  of  the  classic  reprobates. 
He  had  a  theory  that  Nero,  Caligula,  Caracalla,  and  Tiberius 
were  grossly  wronged  by  the  partisan  writers  of  the  day. 

"  They  were  to  these  enemies  what  a  Whig  was  to  Claren 
don,  or  a  Tory  to  Macaulay.  Clarendon's  testimony  would 
make  Hampden,  or  Cromwell,  a  Claudius  or  a  Caligula,  while 
Burnett  or  Macaulay  leave  little  to  choose  betwixt  the 
Stuarts  and  the  Antonines,  Mary  of  Scotland  and  Mess- 
alina.  I  found  my  classic  cognomen  a  heavy  burden  at 
school,  where  the  small  satirists  who  had  pushed  far  enough 
in  Latin  to  know  the  exploits  of  the  emperor,  were  forever 
drawing  sprawling  arches,  fabricated  of  potatoes  and  turf,  or 
columns  of  onions  and  grog  bottles,  in  delicate  allusion  to 
my  Irish  nativity  and  the  staples  of  my  ancestral  fields. 

"  The  favorite  caricature  was  an  emigrant  ship  landed  at 
Castle  Garden  with  an  unkempt  youth  carrying  a  hod  and  in 
the  distance  the  City  Hall — in  the  back-ground  broken  heads 
and  swinging  shillalahs,  marked  *  Trajan's  Way.'  These 
exuberances  of  boyish  wit  sometimes  resulted  in  punched 
heads  and  the  heavens  were  hung  in  black  for  the  most  auda 
cious  of  the  young  rogues — but  I  came  in  time  to  bear  it 
all  with  good  humor,  and  then  the  merry  lads  teased  me  no 
more.  The  spirit  of  caricature  is  rarely  malignant,  and  a 
laugh,  which  is  its  purpose,  placates  the  satirist  and  saves 
the  victim." 

"  Hech  !  "  exclaimed  the  unmollifying  Miss  McNair  ; 
"  there's  no  equaling  the  deviltry  of  small  bodies,  when  the 
will-o'-the-wisp  of  tantalizing  gets  into  their  daft  heads. 
They  made  my  life  a  burden  at  school.  Callow  pates  that 
never  had  a  lesson  would  seem  crammed  with  all  the  classics 
that  bore  on  the  Scotch.  I  would  find  extracts  from  John 
son's  Dixionary  defining  oats,  as  food  for  horses  in  England 


340  TRAJAN. 

and  men  in  Scotland,  in  my  recitation  books,  and  drawings 
of  Caledonian  heads  undergoing  trepanning  to  insert  jokes. 
I  had  a  good  stout  arm  in  those  days,"  she  added  dryly, 
"  and  I  put  something  else  than  jokes  in  their  silly  noddles. 

''  Then  in  my  spelling  book  when  I  went  to  class  I  found 
pan-cakes,  in  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow,  sprawled  over  the 
pages,  a  delicate  allusion  to  the  national  food,  or  a  bagpipe 
scrawled  on  my  music.  But  I  soon  boxed  the  compass  of 
this  idiotic," — Kate,  when  excited  fell  into  her  national  ac 
cent  and  said  "  eejiotic" — "  fulery.  1  became  teacher  in  the 
same  school  afterward  and  I  think  there  was  less  friskiness 
among  the  idle  chatterboxes."  Everybody  laughed,  begging 
Kate  to  continue  her  reminiscences  of  her  drastic 
regime — but  she  shook  her  head.  "  I'm  no  telling  this  to 
amuse  ye,  triflers  that  ye  are — it's  to  warn  ye  agin  the  day 
ye'll  ha'  bairns  o'  yer  ain  " — she  had  quite  dropped  into 
broad  Scotch  by  this  time,  stimulated  by  the  ill-concealed 
merriment  of  the  circle. 

"  Let  us  hope  for  better  things,  Kate,"  suggested  Mrs. 
Arden,  mildly. 

"What — than  bairns?  I  say  ay,  with  all  my  heart, 
ma'am,"  returned  the  spinster  with  vivacity. 

"No,  I  didn't  mean  that,"  said  Mrs.  Arden  laughing.  "I 
have  had  great  comfort  with  my  '  bairns,'  "  and  she  looked 
with  tranquil  tenderness  at  Elliot  and  Edith,  the  one  trying 
to  follow  a  joke  in  Figaro,  the  other  busy  with  some  com 
plicated  floral  needle-work  of  varied  colors  and  silken  tex 
ture. 

"  Kate,  if  you  disapprove  of  bairns  so  strongly,  how  is  it 
I  see  you  giving  bonbons  to  the  small  Cre"cy  urchins  of  an 
afternoon,  when  their  parents  are  fishing  in  the  canal  ?  " 
asked  Elliot  mischievously. 

"And  why  do  you  disturb  the  cotton  market  buying 
whole  pieces  of  calico  to  clothe  the  little  girls  of  Saint 
Pierre  ?  "  asked  Edith  slyly. 

"You   wouldn't  have  the  brats  goin'  about  a  fine  land- 


"TO  £E   WROTH  WITH  ONE   WE  LOVE."          341 

scape  like  this  in  their  pelts,  like  Sawney's  bairns  at  the 
Firth,"  retorted  the  stout  hypocrite  parrying  the  last  stroke 
first.  "  As  for  the  sweets,  ye  meddlesome  young  villain, 
would  ye  have  me  go  crazy  with  the  noise  of  the  wee 
plagues,  when  I  can  put  them  quiet  by  a  handful  of  sugar 
plums  ? " 

"  But,  Kate,  even  that  justifiable  corruption  does  not  ex 
plain  your  taking  them  off  to  the  woods  in  a  carry-all,  as 
I  saw  you  do  with  my  own  eyes  the  other  day.  Surely  that 
wasn't  to  keep  them  quiet  while  you  gave  your  philosophic 
mind  to  admiring  the  landscape,"  said  Bella  gravely,  pre 
tending  to  be  curious  rather  than  contributing  to  these  evi 
dences  of  the  spinster's  duplicity. 

"  And  Kate,  you  humbug,  what  were  you  doing  the  other 
day  when  the  little  boy  fell  into  the  water?  If  my  eyes 
didn't  deceive  me  you  were  covering  him  with  your  shawl, 
that  precious  white  crepe,"  insinuated  Mrs.  Arden,  as  her 
evidence  in  the  case  of  Kate  vs.  Kate. 

Still  unabashed  by  this  array  of  witnesses  to  her  turpi 
tude,  the  gentle  cynic  changed  the  action  to  an  offensive 
one,  exclaiming  with  intention  :  "  And  if  I  were  minded  to 
tell  what  I've  seen  going  on — what  would  ye  ha'  to  say  for 
yersels — my  jaunty  lads  and  lasses  ?  D'ye  mind  whaur  ye 
waur  o'  Saturday  last,  Maister  Elliot,  my  fine  fellow — yes — 
well  ye  may  grow  rid  in  the  gills.  I'll  no  follow  yer  example 
in  telling  tales — but  ithers  ha'  seen  as  well  as  yersel,  and  I 
culd  mak  the  mithers  wonder,  too,  if  I  tould  all  I  saw  cer 
tain  lassies  carryin'  on — but  I'll  spare  ye — for  ye'll.  grow 
older,"  and  as  Edith  sent  up  danger  signals,  the  tor 
mentor  got  up,  pinched  her  ear,  and  kissed  her — Elliot 
laughing  and  looking  uncommonly  wise,  while  his  mother 
displayed  some  uneasiness  and  the  others  curiosity. 

"  Why  do  you  spare  Trajan  and  Bella?  "  asked  Elliot  impu 
dently — "  are  they  perfect,  that  you  have  no  railing  for 
them,  Timon  of  Crecy  ?  " 

"  Hech  !    as  for  that,  they're  as  daft  as  any  o'  ye,  give 


342  TRAJAN. 

them  time,"  and  the  sharp  eye  softened  as  it  caught  the  eye 
of  the  invalid  fixed  in  alarm  on  her.  "  There's  no  need  o' 
wasting  words  over  a  lad  that  knows  no  better  use  for  his 
limbs  than  wrestling  wi'  Rothschild's  animals.  As  for  Bella 
she's  old  enough  to  have  sense — but  I  doubt  she  has,"  she 
added  reflectively. 

"  There's  no  danger  of  self-esteem  taking  strong  root  in 
this  family,  gentle  Kate,"  said  Elliot,  as  she  relapsed  into 
silence. 

"  Ah,  young  man — self-esteem  has  a  gourd's  growth  and 
a  hussy's  craft,  it's  like  water  in  a  sponge,  always  ready  to  be 
squeezed  out  o'  ye  when  ye  fall  into  crafty  hands.  There's 
no  danger  o'  any  o'  ye — ye  have  enough  o'  it  and  to  spare, 
too,  I'll  warrant." 

Conversation  like  this  kept  up  the  tonic  quality  of  the  life 
of  the  chateau  during  these  long  weeks  of  tranquil  repose, 
varied  by  sharp  encounters  with  Theo  in  the  drawing- 
room  when  that  counter-irritant  to  Kate  came  over  to 
call.  The  two  were  old  friends — or  old  enemies  rather,  for 
the  Scot  had  no  love  for  the  clever  American.  Kate  had 
known  Theo  when  she  first  came  to  Paris  ;  she  had  met  her 
in  various  salons  of  the  "  Colony  ;"  she  had  read  of  her 
unholy  triumphs  at  court  as  she  called  them  ;  she  had  sniffed  at 
the  common  rumors  of  the  likelihood  of  her  marriage  with 
this  and  that  great  person.  Her  chief  cause  of  hostility,  how 
ever,  was  the  Godless  conversions,  or  as  Kate  called  them, 
perversions,  of  the  saints  to  "Romanism."  Under  her  very 
eye,  in  the  azure  stream,  as  it  were,  of  the  very  blood  of 
Knox,  the  intrepid  little  propagandist  had  carried  off  con 
quests  to  "  idolatry,"  as  Kate  vigorously  stigmatized  the 
faith  of  Rome.  There  was  hardly  a  painter  or  student, 
susceptible  of  faith  of  any  kind,  that  Theo  had  not  wholly 
or  half  won  into  active  apostleship  in  the  hated  faith. 

The  battles  between  the  two  were  fierce  and  relentless, 
but  the  younger  was  always  the  victor,  her  keen  sense  of 
humor  supplying  weapons  too  strong  for  Kate's  impatience 


"TO  BR   WROTH  WITH  ONE    WE  LOVE."  343 

and  dogmatic  sincerity.  When  the  prince's  attentions  to 
Bella  attracted  the  spinster's  wrath — and  she  marked 
them  from  the  first,  she  was  convinced  that  it  was  an  un 
holy  plot  on  Theo's  part  to  entrap  the  heiress  into  Roman 
ism  and  her  fortune  into  the  coffers  of  the  Jesuits.  She  groaned 
in  spirit  over  the  blindness  of  the  family  to  these  transparent 
artifices  of  Jezebel,  as  she  called  Theo,  but  bold  as  she  was, 
she  dared  not  break  ground  openly  to  counteract  the  scheme. 

She  had  known  the  prince  in  Paris.  He  had  been  lavish 
of  his  presence  in  the  American  colony,  and  it  was  gen 
erally  understood  that  he  was  looking  out  for  a  lady 
with  millions  who  should  restore  the  grandeurs  of  his  de 
cayed  chateaux  and  enable  him  to  lead  in  wealth,  as  he 
eclipsed  in  rank,  all  the  personages  of  the  Imperial  court. 
She  had  watched  Theo's  maneuvers  with  him,  and  believed 
that  it  was  her  intention  to  marry  him  if  she  could.  But 
the  new  move  at  Crecy  convinced  her  she  was  wrong,  and 
that  it  was  to  secure  Bella  and  her  fortune  for  the  Church 
the  arch  schemer  was  intent. 

Kate  racked  her  brain  for  a  weapon  to  avert  this  impend 
ing  disaster,  but  the  fates  themselves  seemed  to  work  in 
Theo's  favor.  The  proposal,  which  she  heard  from  Mrs. 
Arden,  was  a  stunning  blow  to  her.  She  was  silent  and 
peevish  for  the  whole  day  and  quite  surprised  Elliot  by  the 
almost  venomous  acridity  of  the  remarks  she  rapped  out  at 
him  in  response  to  his  casual  pleasantries.  She  was  in  the 
room  when  Elliot  learned  the  purpose  of  the  prince's  visit, 
and  she  understood  the  equivoque  in  Mrs.  Arden's  reply. 

She  knew  that  the  prince,  though  not  accepted,  had  not 
been  refused,  and  she  meant  to  move  heaven  and  earth  to 
make  the  final  answer  a  negative.  But  how  ?  Mrs.  Briscoe's 
single  weakness  was  a  love  of  rank — not  as  pushing,  or  self- 
seeking,  but  a  traditional  esteem  of  birth  and  what  was 
known  in  her  New  England  home  as  gentility  and  culture. 
She  knew  that  such  rank  as  was  offered  her  daughter  would 
be  sure  to  win  the  mother  in  the  end,  whatever  her  senti- 


344  TRAJAN. 

mental  notions  of  joining  the  cousins  in  marriage.  Nor  was 
the  shrewd  plotter  deceived  by  Bella's  apparent  indifference 
to  Elliot. 

She  had  watched  the  two  for  a  year,  and  she  knew  that  it 
needed  but  a  spark  to  set  the  fire  that  lay  unkindled  in 
both,  into  a  flame.  She  had  never  regarded  Elliot's  diver 
sion  with  Theo  as  any  thing  more  than  a  caprice — the  aber 
ration  of  a  spoiled  darling  too  confident  of  his  powers  to 
bring  to  pass  whatsoever  he  set  his  mind  upon  with  conviction. 

She  had,  while  distrusting  the  intimacy,  felt  little  fear, 
because  she  knew  Theo's  consuming  ambition  and  preter 
natural  adroitness  in  bringing  to  pass  whatever  she  set  her 
cold  heart  upon.  It  was  from  Edith's  troubled  hints  that 
she  first  learned  of  Elliot's  serious  danger.  She  watched 
the  two  closely  and  became  convinced  that  Theo  had  relin 
quished  the  rank  of  the  prince  for  the  Arden  millions. 

She  knew  the  futility  of  openly  opposing  the  infatuation, 
hoping  for  some  chance  weapon  that  might  fall  into  her  hand 
and  enable  her  to  strike  a  decisive  blow.  It  never  occurred 
to  her  to  think  of  Trajan  as  an  ally,  though  the  enmeshing 
of  his  friend  in  the  fowler's  snare  was  daily,  hourly  anguish 
to  that  silent  and  helpless  sufferer.  He,  too,  learned  from 
Edith's  hints  the  state  of  the  case,  and  he  was  plunged 
into  despair.  He  was  cruelly  embarrassed.  He  shrank 
from  warring  upon  a  woman,  and  that  woman  the  one  to 
whom  he  had  given  his  whole  heart.  He  indeed  doubted 
very  much  whether  the  conduct  of  the  girl,  which  seemed  to 
him  odious  and  wicked  as  well  as  heartless,  would  strike  the 
tolerant  and  easy-going  Elliot  in  such  hideous  colors  as  he 
saw  it.  He  could  not  reveal  the  smuggling  episode,  for  that 
had  been  confided  to  him  in  honorable  confidence,  and  how 
ever  he  himself  might  abhor  such  enterprises  he  knew  that 
Americans  did  not  take  a  very  severe  view  of  the  traffic. 

Elliot  had  never  mentioned  Theo's  name  of  late,  and 
Trajan  could  not  obtrude  his  opinions  unless  asked  for  them, 
and  perhaps  not  then.  At  one  moment  he  resolved  to  con- 


"  TO  BE  WROTH  WITH  ONE   WE  LOVE."         345 

fide  the  whole  story  to  Mrs.  Arden,  then  repented  of  it  as 
cowardly  to  the  miserable  girl,  and  disloyal  to  Elliot.  Twenty 
times  he  was  on  the  point  of  laying  his  perplexities  before 
Edith,  whose  fidelity  he  trusted  implicitly — but  could  not 
bring  himself  to  weight  that  pure  conscience  with  so  miser 
able  a  burden.  He  had  vaguely  supposed,  without  really 
dwelling  on  the  subject,  that  Elliot's  heart  was  given  up  to 
the  worship  of  his  beautiful  cousin.  Something,  indeed,  that 
the  young  man  himself  said  suggested  it,  and  his  conduct 
until  Theo.  came  upon  the  scene,  confirmed  it. 

Elliot's  agitation  when  the  prince's  mission  was  told  hirn^ 
startled  Trajan,  who  was  looking  at  him  closely.  He  became 
very  pale  and  his  mother  leaving  the  room,  as  she  made  the 
answer  perfectly  equivocal,  he  sank  into  a  chair  trembling 
and  silent.  He  felt  Trajan's  eyes  on  him,  got  up  and  began 
walking  the  room — then,  as  if  possessed  of  the  solution  of  a 
problem  he  had  been  debating,  shot  out  of  the  door  along 
the  hallway  to  the  landing,  and  calling  Pierre,  who  was  stand 
ing  in  the  lower  hall,  asked  him  if  Miss  Briscoe  were  in  the 
house.  Pierre  did  not  know,  but  would  go  and  see. 

"  Tell  her  that  I  am  waiting  in  the  library,  and  beg  that  she 
will  give  me  ten  minutes."  He  strode  into  the  roomy  apart 
ment,  looking  idly  at  the  back  of  the  books  when  Pierre 
returned  with  the  answer  that  mademoiselle  was  not  in  her 
room  and  her  mother  thought  she  was  in  the  park.  But  she 
was  nowhere  to  be  found  in  the  grounds,  and  the  young  man 
entered  a  sylvan  arbor  and  resumed  his  reflections. 

Upon  what  trifling  chances  our  woes  and  joys  depend.  A 
half-hour  earlier  would  have  saved  him  the  path  of  many 
pains,  the  companionship  of  much  misery,  the  discovery  of 
vile  treasons,  the  falsehood  of  a  wicked  woman.  It  was  not 
to  be,  and  he  sat  in  the  shade,  the  cat-bird  calling  and  the 
lark's  song  falling  downward  like  the  symphony  of  silver 
chords  from  an  aerial  orchestra.  The  repose  of  the  place 
restored  to  him  the  rationale  of  the  situation.  He  had  sent 
for  Bella,  with  the  purpose  of  upbraiding  and  renouncing  her 


34<5  TRAJAN. 

— if  it  were  true  that  she  had  encouraged  this  absurd  offer 
from  the  prince.  It  was  less  egotism  than  trust  in  his 
cousin,  that  made  him  confident  of  his  power  of  supplanting 
the  prince,  with  lover-like  inconsequence  losing  sight  of  the 
moral  question  involved  in  Bella's  possible  plighted  word 
and  his  own  compromising  absorption  in  Theo.  He  had 
solved  all  the  perplexities  of  the  complications  quite  to  his 
satisfaction,  and  resumed  the  happy  serenity  natural  to  him, 
when  whom  should  he  spy,  sauntering  toward  his  retreat, 
but  the  fascinating  Theo  herself,  bewildering  in  fluffy 
draperies  and  elastic  in  step  as  a  fairy. 

"  By  George,  what  an  adorable  witch  it  is  !  "  he  said,  half 
aloud,  as  the  vision  came  nearer.  He  called  out  as  she 
reached  the  door  : 

"  Where  away,  Titania  ?  are  you  going  to,  or  coming  from 
a  fairy  revel — disputing  or  conceding  Queen  Mab's  domin 
ion  ?" 

She  stopped,  recognizing  the  voice,  but  Elliot  had  slipped 
behind  the  thick  trellis  of  vines  ;  then  peeping  in  the  door 
way  pretended  to  see  nothing  and  saying  as  if  to  herself  : 

"  I  could  have  sworn  a  voice  I  recognized  as  Caliban's. 
Come  forth,  foul  monster — your  queen  commands  ;  Mab, 
the  mistress  of  the  acorn  throne,  drawn  by  tandem  dragon- 
flies  ;  her  cohorts  '  atomies  '  in  lily  liveries  ;  her  guards  long- 
legged  spiders  ;  her  trumpets  hare-bells  ;  her  scepter  a  rose  ; 
her  orb  a  lily's  petal  with  dew  drops  glistening  at  each  end  ; 
her  crown  a  sunbeam  stolen  from  the  violet's  heart  and  tinc 
tured  with  its  purple  ;  her  mantle  a  mosaic  of  the  lady-bug's 
hood,  the  daffodil's  vest  and  the  lizard's  scale  ;  her  lamps  the 
firefly's  coal  ;  her  army  trains  of  eager  ants  ;  her  courtiers 
all  the  winged  world  that  mock  the  wild  wood  in  color  ;  her 
subjects  all  manner  of  living  and  loving  things  ;  her  sword  of 
state  a  hornet's  sting  ;  her  canopy  a  marigold — " 

"  There — don't  go  any  further,  or  I  shall  really  believe  you 
Queen  Mab  in  the  fairy  flesh  and  fly  your  supernatural 
witcheries.  I  didn't  know  you  were  a  poet  as  well  as  phil- 


"  TO  BE   WROTH  IV IT  PI  ONE   WE  LOVE.  347 

• 

osopher,"    said   Elliot,  coming  from  behind  the  covert  of 
clematis  and  Virginia  creeper. 

"  Not  an  original  poet.  I  am  merely  borrowing  from 
Shakespeare,"  said  Theo,  coming  into  the  shady  coolness 
and  sitting  down.  '"Why  are  you  here  in  eremite  medita 
tion  ?  I'll  wager  the  seriousness  on  your  brow  means  some 
thing — losses  by  flood  or  field,  or  crosses  in  love  ? "  she 
asked  with  irresistible  impertinence. 

The  charm  of  her  subtle  beauty  was  upon  him,  the  enchant 
ment  of  her  manner,  the  defiance  and  yet  deference  of  her 
glance  provoked  him.  Under  that  spell,  he  forgot  every 
thing — forgot  his  pledge  of  the  morning,  the  shrine  of  his 
life's  devotions — his  unspoken,  but  none  the  less  plighted 
faith  to  Bella.  He  broke  into  a  vehement  protest  of  devo 
tion — of  a  love  that  mastered  his  reason  and  without  which 
his  life  would  be  a  blank,  and  very  much  more  of  the  same 
passionate  and  plausible  nature,  all  the  more  passionate,  fluent 
and  plausible,  I  believe,  on  my  faith,  because  his  heart  held 
another  image  and  his  eye  saw  another  form  than  the  siren 
before  him. 

He  had  taken  both  her  hands  while  speaking  and  tried 
to  look  into  her  eyes.  But  she  never  for  a  moment  lost 
her  self-possession.  She  met  the  glance  calmly  during 
the  outburst  and  then  looked  over  his  head  in  a  dreamy, 
repressed  exultation.  He  bent  closer  as  his  words  became 
more  eager,  but  as  his  face  neared  hers  she  swayed  back 
ward  with  a  willowy  movement  of  indescribable  grace.  She 
made  no  effort  to  release  her  hands  ;  on  the  contrary,  she 
clasped  Elliot's  firmly,  as  if  by  instinct  aware  that  she  thus 
kept  the  power  of  controlling  him  in  her  own  hands.  In 
this  attitude,  with  a  pulse  at  its  normal  beat  and  the  shifty 
eyes  as  serene  as  if  adjusting  her  robe,  she  looked  the  foolish 
fellow  in  the  face  and  maddened  him  with  a  deliberate  lie  : 

"  Elliot,  I  never  dreamed  of  this — had  I  supposed  you 
were  free,  I — I — " 

"But  I  love  you — I  love  you — will  you  be  my  wife  ? " 


TRAJAN. 


"  You  must  give  me  time — I  can  not  answer  you — I  dare 
not  answer  you — " 

"What  do  you  mean  ?  "  he  broke  out  impetuously.  "  You 
dare  not — are  you  a  child  tied  up  by  French  conventions  ? " 

He  strove  to  draw  his  hands  from  her.  But  she  held  them 
firmly,  and  his  eyes  remained  fixed  upon  her  face.  She 
made  a  little  movement  like  a  shrug,  and  continued  : 

"  I  dare  not  answer  you,  for  I  am  the  promised  wife  of 
another — whom  I  do  not  love." 

u  Then  you  do  love  me — say  that — you  can  surely  say 
that,"  and  he  strove  to  release  his  hands  to  clasp  her  to  his 
heart.  But  a  strength  hardly  inferior  to  his  own  responded 
to  his  efforts.  He  was  still  kept  at  arm's  length.  He  looked 
at  her  in  amazement.  The  gleam  of  amber  in  her  strangely 
bright  eyes,  with  an  inexpressible  thrill  recalled  to  him  the 
saffron  demons  reflected  in  the  brackish  waters  of  the  pool  ! 

She  relinquished  his  hands  and  sank  back  in  the  rustic  seat 
trembling,  her  eyes  fixed  on  the  doorway.  Elliot  turned. 
Trajan  Gray,  tall  as  a  specter  through  emaciation,  and  pale 
as  the  linen  that  swathed  his  neck,  stood  under  the  blooming 
canopy  that  framed  him.  He  was  leaning  on  the  arms  of 
Kate  and  Edith.  His  eye  was  fixed  with  an  expression  of 
yearning — then  scorn — as  he  glanced  upon  the  cowering 
figure  in  the  seat.  He  turned  gently  to  Elliot  and  spoke  : 

"  She  is  telling  you  an  untruth  ;  she  does  not  love  you. 
She  dares  not  ;  she  is  the  unpromised  wife  of  a  man,  whom 
she  does  love." 

"  Gray,  how  dare  you — this  is  cowardly,  vile.  By  Heaven  ! 
if  you  were  not  a  cripple— 

"  Oh,  Elliot — you  forget — you  forget  what  we  owe  Mr. 
Gray,"  cried  Edith,  trying  to  clasp  his  arms.  He  shook  her 
off  savagely. 

"  I  forget  nothing—  I  know  that  he  dares  to  come  into  the 
presence  of  the  woman  I  love  and  say  what  no  manor  woman 
shall  say,  while  I  have  an  arm.  I  say  that  I  am  in  my  senses 
when  I  declare  that  he  must  answer  for  this  atrocious  coward- 


"  TO  BE    WROTH  WITH  ONE   WE  LOVE"          349 

ice.     That  I  shall  hale  him  before  all  men  and  proclaim  him 
a  coward  and  calumniator." 

While  speaking  he  had  gone  to  Theo,  sitting  stony  and 
rigid  under  the  trumpet  flowers  and  partly  veiled  by  them. 
He  put  his  arms  tenderly  about  her  and  drew  her  head  upon 
his  breast. 

"You  infamous  coward,"  he  cried,  "  there's  my  answer — 
my  defiance — whether  my  wife  or  another's  this  arm  is  ready 
to  defend  her,  shelter  her  !  " 

Trajan  had  sunk  under  the  shock  of  these  dreadful  words. 

A  servant  with  a  wheel  chair  had  come  from  the  chateau 
behind  him  as  he  walked  feebly  through  the  grounds,  and 
Kate  ran  and  wheeled  it  behind  him,  ordering  the  servant  to 
wait  at  some  distance.  Sinking  into  this  Trajan  listened  to 
the  intemperate  outbreak  of  the  man  he  adored,  as  a  mother 
adores  a  son,  or  some  brothers  do  their  brothers.  Then 
when  the  passion  of  the  other  calmed  into  the  last  bitter 
speech  he  fixed  his  eyes  on  the  now  reassured  Theo,  who 
did  not  look  at  him. 

"  Theo,"  and  his  voice  trembled  as  he  pronounced  the 
name — "You  must  have  some  of  the  feelings  of  your  sex  ; 
you  can  not  be  wholly  heartless  ;  you  must  be  human.  Have 
pity  on  the  man  beside  you.  He  never  harmed  you — he 
never  did  wrong  to  a  human  being.  He  wrongs  me  now, 
but  he  is  not  himself.  Have  patience,"  he  cried,  as  Elliot 
started  to  speak  ;  "  you  will  have  the  future  to  think  over 
what  you  have  said,  when  I'm  far  from  you.  Theo,  think 
of  your  mother — think  of  your  girlhood,  before  this  craze 
came  upon  you — remember  that  you  brought  one  man  to 
madness,  God  forgive  him,  nearly  to  crime.  The  man  beside 
you  averted  that  crime  and  the  man  he  saved  is  resolved  to 
avert  another — at  whatever  sacrifice.  Be  human — tell  him 
the  truth  or  I  will." 

Even  Elliot  was  staggered  by  this  implied  previous  bond 
between  the  man  he  had  reviled  and  the  woman  he  thought 
he  loved.  He  recalled  certain  snatches  of  anguish  during 


350  TRAJAN. 

Trajan's  delirium — but  come  what  might,  he  resolved  not  to 
desert  the  woman  he  saw  his  own  now,  beyond  recall. 

He  drew  her  closer  to  him  and  pressed  her  hand  confidingly. 
Strengthened  by  this  noble  devotion,  inspired  by  this  im 
measurable  evidence  of  her  power,  all  the  devil  in  the  wicked 
creature's  nature  came  into  play  to  defy  and  extricate  her 
self  from  irremediable  disaster.  She  rose — with  Elliot's 
hand  clasped  in  her  own.  She  faced  the  man  she  had 
cruelly  wronged,  the  man  she  loved,  and  recklessly,  sneer- 
ingly  measured  out  these  terrible  words  : 

"  Mr.  Trajan  Gray,  I'm  at  a  loss  to  understand  the  right 
it  gives  a  man  to  insult  a  woman  and  traduce  her,  because 
he  has  wearied  her,  until  life  was  a  burden,  with  his  love. 
Admit  that  you  loved  me,  admit  that  you  declared  it,  admit 
that  I  frankly  told  you  I  could  not  afford  to  marry  you — 
admit  that  I  gave  no  other  reason  !  Does  that  justify  you 
in  playing  the  odious  part  of  eavesdropper  and  traducer  ? 
I  give  you  full  liberty  to  tell  all  you  know  of  me  ;  that  you 
saved  my  life,  that  I  was  fond  of  you — that  I  refused  you  ! 
What  then  ?  Must  a  woman  marry  every  adventurer  who 
lies  in  wait  until  chance  puts  her  in  peril  of  her  life  and  he 
rescues  her  in  cheap  heroic  attitudes  ?  Mr.  Arden  has 
measured  your  conduct  precisely  as  it  deserves  ;  but  its  pun 
ishment  does  not  fall  to  him.  My  brother  will  hold  you  to 
account  for  this  vile,  this  uncalled-for,  this  incomprehensi 
ble  attack.  Mr.  Arden,  may  I  trouble  you  to  take  me  out 
of  this  place  !  " 

As  Kate  began  to  push  the  chair  back  Trajan  stopped  her 
by  a  gesture,  and  looking  at  Elliot  frankly  and  kindly  mur 
mured,  "  Stay,"  then  gathering  his  feeble  strength,  he  said  in 
low,  distinct  tones  : 

"  Are  you  satisfied  with  this  explanation  ?  Do  you  take 
that — that — "  he  hesitated  and  Elliot  made  a  threatening 
move — "  that  wicked  woman's  word,"  he  continued,  smiling 
at  the  threat — "  before  mine  ?  Reflect  a  moment — don't 
answer  in  your  anger — more  than  you  know  depends  upon 


"  TO  BE   WROTH  WITH  ONE    WE  LOVE."          351 

your  response — remember  the  past — remember  what  you 
know  of  me — don't  look  in  her  eyes — look  in  mine,  or  still 
better  look  in  these,"  and  he  pointed  to  Edith,  trembling 
and  breathless,  beside  him. 

Elliot's  eyes  were  fixed  on  Theo's  ;  his  hand  was  clasped 
in  hers  ;  her  breath  was  in  his  face,  her  matchless  witchery 
was  on  him  like  a  spell.  He  turned  deliberately  and  with 
scornful  emphasis  said  : 

"  I  have  already  expressed  my  opinion  of  you  ;  if  I  were 
called  upon  to  repeat  it  I  should  be  at  a  loss  for  words 
adequate  to  convey  the  loathing  I  feel  for  a  man  who  takes 
advantage  of  his  condition  to  insult  the  weak  and  restrain 
the  strong.  Unless  your  prudence  fails  you  as  your  senses 
seem  to  have  done  to-day,  you  will  be  wiser  to  keep  out  of 
the  reach  of  a  decent  man's  arm,  when — 

"  Ah — Elliot — Elliot,  you  are  mad.  Mr.  Gray,  forgive 
him — pity  him  !"  Edith  spoke  and  turned  to  implore 
Trajan,  but  her  words  did  not  reach  him.  The  strain  had 
been  too  much.  His  head  had  fallen  limply  on  his  breast. 
He  had  reeled  into  unconsciousness. 

*'  For  my  part,  Meester  Elliot,"  Kate's  Scotch  coming  out 
strong  in  her  anger  and  terror — "  I  think  ye've  made  a  grand 
conquest  th'  day.  Ye've  stabbed  the  best  friend  and  af 
fronted  the  best  man  in  a'  the  world,  and  I  wish  ye  much  joy 
of  what  ye've  got  in  return,"  and  she  threw  a  withering  look 
of  scorn  upon  Theo,  as,  perfectly  calm,  confident  and  vic 
torious,  she  passed  the  helpless  victim  she  had  twice  brought 
to  death's  door. 

Trajan's,  timely  or  untimely,  appearance  upon  the 
scene  was  not,  as  the  reader  may  suppose,  the  work  of 
chance.  The  energetic  Kate,  with  the  thought  of  Bella's 
misery  in  her  mind,  had  gone  out  in  the  park  to  reflect  upon 
the  complexities  that  were  tangling  the  feet  of  the  lovers. 
She  met  Edith,  likewise  brooding  upon  Elliot's  perverseness, 
and  with  both  minds  charged  with  doubts  there  was  a  fuller 
expression  than  ever  before.  Edith,  too,  had  heard  some  of 


35  2  TRAJAN. 

Trajan's  ravings  and  her  suspicions  had  been  confirmed  by 
the  singular  episode  of  the  flowers,  as  well  as  the  strong  words 
Trajan  had  used  in  the  Ravine  of  Reveche  when  he  had 
alluded  to  the  woman  who  had  wronged  him.  Kate  was  not 
slow  in  putting  all  these  fragments  together.  There  was 
nothing  evil  that  she  was  not  prepared  to  believe  of  Theo. 
As  they  were  conspiring  they  saw  Elliot  enter  the  arbor 
and  they  saw  Theo  follow  him.  Kate's  decision  was 
instantly  taken.  It  was  not  too  late  to  cure  him  and 
cure  him  decisively.  She  was  deaf  to  Edith's  timid 
protests  of  the  ill  effects  that  might  come  to  Trajan  from 
the  revival  of  such  a  disaster  in  his  present  weak  state. 
The  spinster  was,  however,  inflexible.  The  cause  of  honesty, 
was,  she  declared,  at  stake,  though  I'm  afraid,  that  if  she 
had  been  put  on  oath  she  would  have  had  to  own  that  the  desire 
to  trip  the  evangel  of  Rome  was  not  the  least  in  the 
motives  that  impelled  her  decisive  maneuver. 

"  Your  brother  and  Gray  are  sworn  friends,"  she  argued, 
"and  the  one  would  lay  down  his  life  for  the  other — or  they 
believe  they  would,"  she  added  dryly.  "  It's  the  least  one 
can  do  for  the  other  to  risk  a  relapse  and  thereby  save  him 
from  the  clutches  of  an  evil  woman." 

Edith  was  frightened  at  the  vehemence  and  exaggeration 
of  her  unexpected  ally.  She  did  not  like  Theo,  but  she 
would  not,  even  to  herself,  call  her  evil.  "  We  may  not  like 
Miss  Carnot,"  she  said  modestly  to  the  enthusiastic  Kate, 
"  but  we  should  not  call  her  bad  names.  That  doesn't  help 
us,  you  know,"  she  added,  apologetically,  as  the  other 
shrugged  her  shoulders  disdainfully,  "  nor  does  it  help  Elliot 
back  to  reason,"  and  she  sighed  tearfully.  Luckily  for  the 
intriguers  Mesdames  Arden  and  Briscoe  were  not  with  the 
invalid,  when  Kate,  fearlessly  taking  the  mission  on  herself, 
entered  the  room  where  Trajan  sat  idly  sketching,  his  sheet 
supported  by  a  cushion  on  his  knee.  Kate  told  the  story 
rapidly,  sparing  nothing.  She  wound  up  by  telling  the  aston 
ished  Trajan  that  he  now  had  an  opportunity,  such  as  comes 


AN  ESS  A  Y  IN  ^SOP.  353 

to  a  real  friend  but  once  in  a  lifetime  to  prove  his  interest 
in  Arden.  This  was  enough.  Leaning  on  the  resolute 
woman's  arm  and  directing  the  valet  to  take  the  wheeled 
chair  out  by  the  rear  entrance,  he  hurried  feverishly  to  the 
fatal  tryst. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

AN     ESSAY     IN 


YOU  are  called  upon  to  admire  the  consummate  address 
of  the  wolf  at  this  stage  of  the  comedy.  What  out  of 
^Esop  could  be  finer  than  that  last  sally  ?  The  admirable 
manner  in  which  the  teeth  and  claws  were  not  only  hid,  but 
their  ugly  nakedness  made  to  protrude  from  the  tender 
lamb  come  to  the  rescue  of  his  kin  !  The  fox  family  are 
noted  in  Mr.  ^Esop's  histories  for  the  ingenuity  of  their 
dealings  with  the  lambs,  but  it  will  be  admitted  that  the  wolf 
is  really  the  master  wit  of  the  two.  While  the  fox  is  content 
to  carry  alarm  into  the  fowl  family,  his  triumphs  are  sordid 
at  best  —  a  cackling  pullet  or  a  tough  old  hen  no  longer  of 
much  use  for  the  pot  or  the  spit.  But  wolf,  not  content 
with  carrying  off  the  lamb,  by  his  own  consent  throws  a 
firebrand  into  the  lamb  family,  which  is  bound  to  disintegrate 
and  break  it  up,  so  that  in  future  incursions  each  member 
may  be  carried  off  with  impunity.  Anger,  shame  and  re 
morse,  guests  never  before  known  to  the  lamb  cot,  are  now 
to  lurk  constantly  among  its  members,  leaving  them  all  help 
less  prey  to  the  family  of  the  foxes  and  wolves,  who  for 
spoil  always  affect  an  entente  cordiale. 

From  which,  indignant,  gentle,  captious,  disgusted,  sym 
pathetic,  or  whatsoever  character  of  reader  you  may  be, 
you  will  observe  that  the  most  grievous  trials  in  life 
are  put  upon  us  as  often  by  those  who  love  us 
as  by  those  who  hate  us  ;  that  the  eagle  supplying 
23 


354  TRAJAN. 

the  feather  to  guide  the  dart  that  goes  to  his  own 
heart,  is  not  altogether  a  fanciful  conceit.  I  think  it  very 
likely  indeed  that  Trajan's  words  in  the  arbor,  uttered  by 
any  one  else,  would  not  have  thrown  Elliot  into  such  a 
frenzy  of  passionate  wrath — nor  if  Elliot  were  really  so 
deeply  in  love  with  Theo  as  he  tried  to  make  himself 
believe,  would  Trajan's  denunciation  have  been  so  fiercely 
resented.  Had  Elliot  in  his  soul  been  certain  of  blameless- 
ness,  it  would  have  been  his  endeavor  to  convince  the  friend 
he  loved  that  he  was  misjudging  and  wronging  the  purest 
and  best  of  women.  Indeed,  I  am  afraid  I  must  own  that 
Elliot  was  trying  to  bolster  up  a  bad  and  foolish  cause  by 
creating  a  worse  condition  of  things  which  should  overshadow 
it.  We  are  prone  to  boisterous  buffoonery  of  this  sort  in  the 
serious  broils  of  life — we  have  a  sort  of  octopus  instinct, 
which  incites  us  to  relinquish  a  foolish  prey  or  belittle  a  losing 
game  by  a  thick  cloud  of  misunderstanding  or  falsely 
assumed  anger. 

Now,  specious  as  were  the  words  and  brilliant  the  coup  by 
which  Theo  plucked  safety  from  the  nettle  danger  confront 
ing  her  in  Trajan's  unexpected  and  startling  intervention, 
Elliot,  had  he  been  a  wise  lad,  would  have  detected  the 
discordance  in  her  tone,  would  have  seen  the  shining  truth 
in  Trajan's  eyes,  compared  to  which  Theo's  theatric  though 
plausible  half-truths  would  have  stood  out  for  what  they 
were.  Elliot  was  by  nature  truthful  to  the  core  ;  he  hated 
lies  and  was  so  little  familiar  with  them  that  he  did  not  recog 
nize  one  when  told  him.  The  fact  is  a  lie  is  always  more 
likely  to  succeed  than  the  truth,  for  a  lie  is  meant  to  please, 
to  carry  out  a  certain  end,  whereas  the  truth  has  but  one 
purpose  to  fill,  one  part  to  play.  The  protean  lie  humors 
all  whims  ;  it  enlivens  when  we  are  gay;  inspirits  when  sad  ; 
and  turns  the  dark  roseate,  when  we  have  glided  into  the 
black  ways  of  wrong-doing.  Admitting  all  this,  and  granting 
the  paradoxes,  the  scene  does  not  leave  much  in  the  young 
man's  favor,  I  admit — but  remember  that  he  was  in  that 
most  trying  sort  of  love — the  unwilling. 


AN  ESS  A  Y  IN  ^SOP.  355 

So  far  as  the  pure  current  which  sets  in  with  a  man's 
prime  may  be  gauged  he  loved  Bella  ;  so  far  as  that  abnor 
mal  caprice  which  masters  reason,  without  satisfying  it,  may 
be  called  love,  he  was  wrapped  up  in  Theo.  With  this 
difference,  the  one  rendered  him  tranquilly  happy,  congenial 
with  all  his  surroundings  and  increasing  tenfold  his  confi 
dence  and  trust  in  his  family  and  friends,  while  the  other 
rilled  him  with  unrest,  colored  his  conduct  with  a  quality  of 
the  surreptitious,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  had  just  forced  him 
into  a  vulgar  arid  brutal  brawl  with  a  man  to  whose  love  for 
him  that  of  a  brother  was  but  a  feeble  comparison. 

"The  higher  the  mountain,  the  deeper  the  valley,"  is  a 
homely  German  proverb  ;  so  the  truer  the  affection,  the  more 
tender  the  bonds,  the  fiercer  the  anger  required  to  heat  the 
temper  to  the  wounding  point.  It  was  the  very  intensity  of 
his  love  for  Trajan  that  influenced  Elliot  to  the  cruel  words 
he  uttered, .quite  as  much  as  the  insidious  influence  of  the  evil 
woman  who  had  come  between  them.  With  Edith's  tearful 
eyes  and  Kate's  calm  scorn  searching  him,  he  felt  capable 
even  of  striking  the>man  whose  presence  without  a  word  told 
him  that  he  was  doing  wrong.  He  felt  instinctively  that  no 
motive  other  than  his  own  happiness  could  have  impelled 
the  chivalrous,  self-sacrificing  Trajan  to  appear  in  the  arbor 
— a  very  mask  of  death — come  from  the  grave  to  shield  and 
protect  him. 

If  Mrs.  Briscoe's  astonishment  had  been  great  on  entering 
Trajan's  room  and  finding  him  gone,  her  horror  may  be 
imagined  when  he  was  carried  in  later,  as  she  believed  a 
corpse.  Kate  took  the  whole  responsibility  upon  herself — 
curtly  explaining  that  she  had  a  "fool  notion"  the  air  and 
flowers  would  better  him.  That  an  accident  had  happened, 
and  that  he  had  lost  consciousness.  He  was  restored  in 
time,  and  on  a  hint  from  Kate  made  light  of  the  adventure, 
but  Mrs.  Briscoe  declared  that  no  one  but  herself  should  be 
trusted  with  his  movements  again.  His  strength  seemed 
miraculously  revived  by  the  shock,  and  to  Mrs,  Briscoe's 


356  TRAJAN. 

terror   he    was    up    and    dressed  when  she  came   up   from 
dinner. 

It  had  been  a  melancholy  feast.  Elliot  did  not  appear,  and 
Edith  was  up  stairs  with  a  nervous  headache.  Bella  had 
her  dinner  served  in  her  room.  All  allusion  to  domestic 
affairs  was  repressed  by  the  presence  of  Claridge  and  the 
Countess  Pleinevide,  who  came  over  to  say  that  Elliot  was 
dining  at  the  Duclos  Chateau.  Edith's  headache  seemed 
to  have  left  her  so  soon  as  her  mother  went  to  dinner,  for 
she  presently  stole  along  the  hall  and  as  she  saw  a  servant 
entering  Trajan's  room  she  bade  him  wait  in  the  ante-room 
and.  went  in  herself.  The  invalid  was  up  and  sitting  at  the 
window — a  pen  in  his  hand  and  paper  spread  before  him. 
He  did  not  hear  the  light  foot-step,  and  did  not  turn  his 
head.  She  went  up  quite  to  him  and  said  softly  : 

"  Oh — Trajan — I'm  so  glad  to  see  you  up  again — I  feared 
that— that— " 

:'  That  I  was  done  for.     Oh  no,"  he  said  gayly,  "  I'm  just 
in  trim  for  a  tramp.   Do  you  know  I  was  just  writing  to  you, 
and  you'll  laugh,  but  I  have  been  puzzling  ten   minutes — 
whether  I  should  say  *  Dear  Miss  Edith' — or,  '  Dear  Edith'— 
which  would  you  have  written  ?" 

"  I  should  have  said  Dear  Edith,"  she  replied  with  delicious 
naivete. 

"  Well  then  I  will  just  write  that — D-e-a-r  E-d-i-t-h— 
Look  how  firm  the  hand  is — not  much  of  sick  man  in 
those  Gothic  curves,  is  there  ?  That  would  pass  for  copper 
plate  any  where — there's  copper-plate  and  copper-plate,  you 
know.  Now  I  have  written — Dear  Edith — dear  me,  how 
pretty  that  sounds — did  it  ever  strike  you — the  charm  of 
those  two  'd's?'  I  protest  the  name  should  always  be  spoken 
that  way — dear  Edith — I  like  to  hear  myself  say  it,  do  you  ?  " 

"  Yes — you  say  it  very  nicely — you  must  have  been  prac 
ticing  it — it  never  sounded  so  nicely  to  my  ears  before — 
except  from  Elliot," — she  halted  in  confusion,  then  started 
guiltily  and  blushed  at  the  malapropos  allusion. 


AN  ESSAY  IN  ^SOP.  357 

But  Trajan  pretending  not  to  remark  the  name,  replied 
gayly— 

"  Oh,  he  has  had  more  practice  than  I.  In  time  I  shall  have 
attained  his  melodious  intonation.  Let  me  see — dear  Edith — 
It's  curious,  before  you  came  I  had  it  all  on  the  end  of  my  pen 
— what  I  was  going  to  say  I  mean — and  now  you  have 
quite  driven  it  away." 

"  Have  I  !  How  unfortunate.  Perhaps  it  will  come  back 
when  I'm  gone  ?  What  could  you  have  been  going  to  say  ?  It 
must  have  been  something  important,  as  you  knew  I  would  be 
here  after  dinner.  Perhaps  I'd  better  go  and  it  may  come 
back." 

"  Oh,  dear  me,  no,  not  for  the  world.  But  what  a  head  you 
have  got — well  I've  reached  '  dear  Edith,'  and  do  you  know, 
I  don't  like  to  go  any  further  for  fear  of  spoiling  that.  I 
hold  that  line  a  credit  to  any  sick  man  in  Christendom. 
Don't  you  ? " 

"  Yes,  it's  very  well  written,"  assents  Edith,  perplexed  by 
the  whimsical  gayety  of  the  invalid.  "  Suppose  you  try  to 
think  what  you  were  going  to  say  ?  " 

"  But  do  you  know  that  while  you're  here  I  can't  think  of 
a  word  of  it." 

"  Oh,  very  well,  I'll  go  and  come  back  presently  ;  "  turning 
to  go. 

"  On  no  account  !  You  must  help  me  to  write  ;  without 
you  I  see  now  it  would  be  impossible.  Now,  I'll  resume. 
Here  goes."  He  scratched  a  few  lines — perhaps  three,  and 
looked  at  her. 

"  Now  what  have  you  written  ?  How  can  I  help  you  un 
less  you  say  each  word  as  you  are  about  to  write  it  ? " 

"  Sure    enough  :     well    now,    listen  ;     for    completeness' 
sake  I  will  begin  at  the  beginning  : 
"  DEAR  EDITH  ; — 

*  Perhaps  it  would  be  wiser  for  me  to  leave  unsaid  what  I 
feel  impelled  to  say  now,  as  I  am  going  from  the  dear  roof 
that  shelters  your  dear  head  !  " 


35 8  TRAJAN. 

Edith  started  up,  "  No — no — no,  that  isn't  at  all  proper, 
you  mustn't  say  that,  it's  wicked — I  won't  listen  to  any  thing 
so — so — cruel." 

"  Well,  what  would  you  substitute  ?  let  me  hear.  I  really 
don't  want  to  add  a  new  wickedness  to  my  other  monstrosi 
ties.  You  dictate  and  I'll  write  !  " 

"Will  you  though  ?" 

Trajan  gravely  took  another  sheet,  laid  it  over  the  first 
and  asked  innocently  : 

"  How  shall  I  begin  ?  " 

"  Why — Dear  Edith,  of  course — how  forgetful  you 
are  !  " 

"  D-e-a-r  E-d-i-t-h,"  he  wrote.  "  That's  even  better  than 
the  first.  Now  what  ?  " 

"  A  silly  idea  came  into  my  head,  that  I  wanted  to  go  away, 
because — because — -be — ' ' 

"  Why  three  becauses  ? — that's  an  error  in  style  ;  the  rule 
is  for  strong  emotion,  repeat  once,  but  never  twice,  that 
turns  pathos  to  bathos." 

"  I  believe  you  are  only  teasing  me.  I  won't  write  another 
word.  You're  a  wicked  fellow  !  " 

"  J  believe  I  am,  but  you  know  you  haven't  written  a  word 
yet.  I  have  done  the  writing.  Now  continue,  and  don't 
repeat  unless  you  want  to  surprise  the  reader  by  an  unex 
pected  situation." 

"  Well,  scratch  out  one  because,  and  then  say,  /  know  that 
every  one  in  this  house  would  feel  miserable,  if  I  should" 
[long  pause,  pen  in  air,  voice  all  of  a  tremble,  and  a  second 
"  should  "  almost  launched,  and  then  the  resumption]  "  seem 
so  unmindful  [score  that — and  while  I  think  of  it,  score  silly\ 
I  know  love  me  and  would  be  so  grieved,  [score  those  two] 
if  I  were  to  let — the — the  stupid  words  of  a  foolish  boy  [score 
foolish  boy\  break  up  the  most  charming  [ah — ah,  don't  put 
that  down] — Oh  let  us  use  a  French  word,  [don't  write  that], 
that  ever  was" 

"Is  that  all?" 


AN  ESSA  Y  IN  sESOP.  359 

"  No,  you  must  put  the  signature,  you  know,  with  your 
sentiments," 

"  Will  you  express  them  for  me  as  they  ought  to  be  writ 
ten  ?" 

"  Yes,  it  does  sound  abruptly  ;  you  had  better  end — "  but 
above  all,  dear  Edith,  I  do  this  because  I  know  it  would — 
would  [ah — ah]  [don't  put  ah  in,  please]  cause  you  so  much 
misery  to  think — that — that — one  you  so  tenderly  love  has  been 
the  means  of  depriving  you  of  another  that  you  [ah — ah]  so 
much  like."  Faithfully  and  lo — [I  mean]  affectionately  your 
friend,  till  death,  Trajan  Gray.  Now  read  it." 

Trajan  reads  it  aloud,  omitting  all  the  intercalary  outbursts. 

"  It's  horribly  mixed,  but  the  sentiments  are  sound,  don't 
you  think  so  ?  "  she  asks  in  the  most  charming  perplexity. 

"  Irreproachable  ;  they  would  do  credit  to  Miss  Goodman's 
academic  head  and  heart." 

"  Well,  now  you  may  seal  it  and  send  it  to  my  room  by 
Pierre  who  is  in  the  dressing-room." 

"  Yes,  but  you  know  you  were  going  to  help  me  write  my 
letter." 

"  What  an  ingrate  !  that's  your  letter,  and  I  shall  not  help 
you  any  more.  I'm  sure  your  satirizing  me.  I  won't  en 
dure  it." 

"  What  won't  you  endure,  Edith  ?  "  It  was  Bella's  voice 
surprised  and  curious.  She  had  entered  the  open  door 
unperceived. 

"  This  preposterous  young  man  thinks  he  knows  better 
what  is  good  for  him  than  I  do,  and  he  has  been  jeering  at 
me  in  the  most  heartless  fashion.  I  wish  you  would  take 
him  in  hand,  Bella,  and  administer  to  him  as  you  do  to 
Elliot,  when  he's  unruly,"  and  the  engaging  dissembler 
faced  the  enemy  with  only  a  tell-tale  blush  to  denote  her 
trepidation.  But  Bella,  laughing,  said  she  had  no  doubt 
Edith  could  manage  a  more  unruly  patient  than  Trajan 
seemed  to  be,  and  the  talk  rippled  on  in  a  gay  strain  until  the 
rest  of  the  family  appeared,  the  two  mothers  not  a  little  sur- 


360  TRAJAN. 

prised  to  find  the  two  daughters  so  suddenly  recovered  from 
the  nervous  headaches  of  the  dinner-hour — ailments  which, 
by  the  way,  they  had  entirely  forgotten. 

When  Elliot  entered  at  a  little  after  ten  there  was  a  light 
burning  in  Trajan's  room,  separated  from  his  own  only  by 
the  small  dressing  closet.  He  was  surprised  to  find  the  door 
closed,  and  on  turning  the  handle  still  more  surprised  to  find 
it  locked.  He  fell  into  a  chair,  for  the  first  time  realizing 
poignantly  the  gulf  which  the  day's  unhappy  events  had  made 
between  them.  It  had  been  his  habit,  not  only  during 
Trajan's  illness,  but  before  it,  to  pass  an  hour  or  two  before 
going  to  bed  in  his  friend's  room.  Now  this  pleasant  season 
of  expansion  was  at  an  end.  About  the  same  age,  the  young 
men  were  on  closer  terms  than  Elliot  was  with  his  cousin 
Philip.  It  never  occurred  to  him  to  go  over  to  the  latter's 
room.  He  would  not  have  gone  into  Trajan's  presence  now 
had -the  door  been  open,  but  he  recognized  with  a  sort  of 
shock  the  effects  of  the  words  he  had  spoken  in  the  morning. 
What  those  words  were  then  he  had  at  the  moment  of  utter 
ing  them  but  a  very  faint  idea. 

I  doubt  if  he  fully  c6mprehended  them,  for  a  certain  form 
of  speech  is  like  champagne,  it  inebriates  the  senses  without 
affecting  the  brain.  We  become  exuberant  in  using  them  ; 
exuberant  either  in  ang»r  or  hilarity. 

Elliot  never  remembered  to  have  spoken  harshly  in  his 
life.  The  novelty  intoxicated  him.  The  words  seduced 
him  further  and  further,  and  in  the  end  it  was  an  almost 
heteronomic  disparity  that  existed  between  the  things  he  said 
and  the  things  he  meant.  If  he  had  at  the  moment  of  his 
most  scathing  reproach  in  the  arbor  found  himself  cool 
enough  or  logical  enough  to  synthesize  his  sensations,  I  sus 
pect  they  would  have  been  something  like  this  :  I  have  been 
acting  like  a  simpleton  ;  vanity,  egotism  and  fretfulness 
have  involved  me  in  a  false  position.  I  have  used  the  most 
sacred  forms  to  describe  my  feelings  for  this  woman,  whom, 
after  all,  I  suspect  I  do  not  love  honestly  and  loyally. 


AN  ESSA  Y  LV  ^SOP.  36 1 

The  sense  of  a  certain  falseness  in  my  protestation  to  her 
makes  it  necessary  that  I  should  convince  her  of  my  integ 
rity.  How  can  I  do  that  better  than  by  affronting  and 
degrading  a  man  whom  she  knows  I  love  and  admire. 

As  a  lie  can  only  be  protected  by  a  lie,  so  one  false  posi 
tion  must  be  bolstered  by  others,  and  so  on  to  the  end  of  the 
chapter.  He  had  gone  too  far  to  retreat.  His  walk  home 
ward  with  Theo  did  not  result  in  putting  their  relations 
more  definitely  than  when  she  had  uttered  the  lying  evasion 
in  the  arbor,  but  by  an  instant  meeting  of  the  lips  when  the 
burning  mouths  met  in  a  lingering  kiss,  the  girl  pressed 
closely  to  his  bosom,  Elliot  conceived  that  they  were  pledged, 
and  that  when  the  loveless  bond  that  bound  her  to  that 
other  should  be  broken,  she  would  be  his  wife.  Beyond 
this  there  was  no  pledge  on  her  part.  He  had  no  claim 
upon  her.  She  had  never  hinted  even  that  she  shared  his 
love,  such  as  it  was. 

But  now,  in  the  silence  of  the  night,  with  the  light  burn 
ing  in  the  sick-room  yonder,  he  was  touched  by  a  cruel 
remorse.  His  windows  were  open.  The  moon  was  at  the 
full,  but  as  it  was  square  above  the  chateau,  the  gables 
threw  the  fagades  into  deep  shadow.  He  longed  to  see  with 
his  own  eyes  how  Trajan  had  borne  the  dastard  blow.  He 
slipped  his  shoes  off,  and  putting  on  a  pair  of  soft  slippers 
let  himself  out  on  the  narrow  balcony  before  the  window. 

A  wide  esplanade  shelf  ran  along  the  whole  front  of  the 
chateau,  which  an  agile  athlete  alone  might  make  a  footway 
by  clutching  the  projections  of  the  windows  and  pilasters.  It 
was,  however,  at  best  a  perilous  passage.  Elliot  gave  the 
peril  no  thought,  but  boldly  set  out  on  the  precarious  path 
way.  In  two  minutes  he  was  at  the  window  of  Trajan's 
room  and  on  the  little  balcony. 

The  curtain  concealed  his  figure,  even  had  the  other  been 
at  the  embrasure.  He  was  not,  however.  He  sat  at  the 
writing  table,  absorbed  in  thought.  As  Elliot  cautiously 
adjusted  the  curtain  to  enable  him  to  look  into  the  room, 


362  TRAJAN. 

Trajan  started  and  looked  about  him.  He  had  heard 
nothing.  There  was  no  sound,  but  the  bond  between  the 
two  men  must  have  vibrated,  a  sensation  we  often  experience 
when  we  feel  that  eyes  are  upon  us  without  realizing  the 
actual  presence  of  the  gazer.  He  seated  himself  again 
and  fell  to  writing,  swiftly,  eagerly — as  if  afraid  to  lose  the 
impulse  if  he  gave  himself  time  to  ponder  over  the  words. 

He  sighed,  but  not  wearily,  and  as  he  folded  the  sheets 
he  began  to  speak  aloud,  and  Elliot  quietly  withdrew, 
shrinking  from  confidences  that  he  felt  he  had  no  right 
to  hear.  He  sank  wearily  into  a  chair  as  he  reached  his 
chamber,  wondering  where  the  miserable  business  was  to 
end,  and  feebly  incapable  of  any  definite  resolution. 

When  the  yellow  sunlight  poured  into  the  room  in  the 
morning,  Edith  entered  and  found  him  there,  his  hand 
resting  on  the  curve  of  the  chair,  the  sunlight  playing 
with  the  golden  clusters  of  his  hair.  She  had  been,  since 
his  return  from  college,  the  first  to  come  to  him  in  the 
morning  to  lay  out  his  apparel  and  prattle  with  him  as 
he  dressed.  She  did  not  at  first  comprehend  the  situa 
tion.  She  fancied  he  had  arisen  earlier  than  usual,  but 
the  truth  flashed  upon  her  at  a  glance.  Laying  her  hand 
lightly  on  the  head,  she  said,  tenderly  : 

"  Elliot." 

He  opened  his  eyes,  dazed  and  heavy.  He  looked  around 
him  bewildered.  Then  it  all  flashed  on  him.  He  kissed 
the  head  leaning  on  his  breast,  then,  putting  his  sister  gently 
away,  arose  and  walked  to  the  window.  The  candles  had 
burned  down  to  the  sockets.  It  was  eight  o'clock.  He  must 
have  slept  the  whole  night,  but  he  did  not  feel  refreshed. 
Edith,  refraining  from  all  mention  of  the  previous  day, 
moved  about  the  room,  laying  out  his  dressing  cases  and 
linen.  While  thus  occupied,  the  door  was  flung  open  and 
Mrs.  Briscoe,  trembling  and  pale,  came  in,  holding  a  letter 
in  her  hand. 

"Oh,    Elliot,    Edith!     What  has  become  of  Trajan  ?     I 


AN  ESS  A  Y  IN  sESOP.  363 

found  this  letter  for  Edith  on  his  night-table,  his  clothes  all 
set  out  and  addressed,  and  his  knapsack  gone.  What  does 
it  mean  ?  There  is  some  dreadful  mistake  or  mystery,  for 
last  night  he  was  gayer  than  I  ever  saw  him.  What  does  the 
note  say,  Edith  ?  " 

It  was  with  swimming  eyes  and  heaving  bosom  that  Edith 
read  the  note,  the  beginning  of  which  she   remembered  so 
well  : 
"  DEAR  EDITH  : — 

"  Perhaps  it  would  be  wiser  for  me  to  leave  unsaid  what  I 
feel  impelled  to  say,  now  that  circumstances  compel  me  to 
leave  this  dear  roof  that  shelters  your  dear  head — [here  the 
hand  changed  strangely] — After  the  events  of  to-day  it  would 
be  gross  intrusion  for  me  to  remain  another  night.  But  I 
can  not  go  without  telling  you  that  your  sweetness,  kindness 
and  devotion  have  given  me  an  insight  into  love  as  I  fancy 
the  redeemed  see  it.  I  once  thought  I  loved.  The  memory 
rises  as  an  infinite  mockery  when  I  realize  your  purity, 
candor  and  goodness.  Then  I  longed  for  possession.  Now 
all  the  world  is  in  bloom  to  me,  the  sky  radiant,  my  heart 
light,  the  future  a  dream,  in  the  simple  saying  to  myself — I 
love  her — I  love  her — I  love  her.  I  could  write  this  a  mil 
lion  times  and  then  set  to  writing  it  again  and  make  myself 
drunk  with  joy  at  the  mere  thought  that  I  dare  do  it  and 
that  the  daring  will  not  offend  you.  I  honestly  own  that  I 
do  not  understand  it.  I  am  leaving  you  with  the  joy  of  the 
bridegroom  going  to  the  altar,  for  I  feel  that  I  am  not 
going  unblessed  by  the  benediction  of  a  pure  and  sustaining 
love.  But — wonderful — most  wonderful,  my  beloved, — (an 
other's  I  know  you  can  never  be) — if  I  felt  that  we  should 
never  meet  again,  that  the  lips  I  never  have  touched,  I  never 
should  touch,  I  should  yet  be  filled  with  a  joy  so  sober  and 
sustained  that  I  should  not  despair  or  ever  become  sad.  You 
have  sent  the  sunshine  of  a  sublime  confidence  into  every 
fiber  of  me,  and  I  feel  that  I  can  confront  every  fate 
'the  world  may  have  in  store  for  me.  I  humbly,  devoutly 


364  TRAJAN. 

take  God  to  witness  that  this  feeling  grew  in  spite  of  un 
ceasing  protests  against  my  own  immeasurable  unworthi- 
ness.  What  the  hand  of  God,  and  the  hand  of  God 
alone,  has  brought  about,  I  dedicate  myself  to  consecrat 
ing  into  a  passion  worthy  not  only  of  your  priceless  love, 
but  the  miracle  of  its  grace.  Is  this  extravagant  and 
mawkish?  I  don't  think  you  will  so  regard  it,. and  as  no 
other  eye  than  yours  shall  ever  see  it,  I  am  content  if  it 
be  tenfold  more  extravagant,  provided  it  gives  you  an 
idea  of  the  exaltation  into  which  this  first  glow  of  my  love 
for  you  throws  me.  I  am  about  to  pass  out  of  your  life 
— out  of  its  daily  circle — but  such  is  the  inspiration  I 
feel  that  I  am  content  to  wait,  for  I  do  not  go  out  of  that 
heart,  tenderer,  nobler,  than  heaven  ever  consented  before 
to  let  be  in  human  form.  But  if  I  wrote  all  night,  and 
then  wrote  again,  I  should  say  these  same  things,  as  the 
roses  repeat  their  bloom  and  the  lilies  rise  in  the  same  purity 
and  the  birds  sing  the  same  note.  I  love  you — I  love  you — 
I  love  you  ;  and  I  am,  by  the  fountain's  pledge,  your  friend 
for  life,  and  by  the  grace  of  God, 

"  Your  true  lover  always, 

"  TRAJAN  GRAY." 

Elliot  had  gone  to  the  window  and  was  looking  out  im 
patiently,  while  Mrs.  Briscoe  sank  into  the  chair  that  had 
served  Elliot  for  a  couch.  She  broke  out  almost  angrily  : 

"  What  does  he  say  ?     Why  don't  you  read  it  aloud  ? " 

But  Edith  continued  to  the  end,  and  when  she  had  folded 
the  sheet  and  put  it  in  her  pocket,  there  was  an  almost  bird- 
like  gladness  in  her  voice  as  she  said  : 

"  He  has  gone  back  to  Paris,  and  Elliot  will  explain 
why." 

But  Elliot  was  not  called  upon  to  explain.  Mrs.  Arden 
entered  the  room  with  an  open  letter  and  handed  it  to  Mrs. 
Briscoe.  It  was  from  Trajan,  evidently  an  after-thought,  in 
which, expressing  his  profound  recognition  of  the  more  than  pa 
rental  tenderness  he  had  been  honored  with,  he  explained  thaf 


AN  ESSA  Y  IN  sESOP.  365 

a  disagreement  between  himself  and  Elliot  made  it  impossible 
for  him  to  remain  for  a  night,  even,  under  the  roof  which  he 
could  only  associate  with  graciousness,  amity,  and  consider 
ation.  He  begged  as  a  crowning  favor  that  the  subject 
might  never  be  alluded  to  in  Elliot's  presence,  and,  above 
all,  no  explanation  asked  him.  In  good  time  all  would  come 
out  right  ;  that  it  was  not  for  him  to  remind  Mrs.  Arden, 
that  she  had  a  son  so  kind,  so  honest,  so  manly,  so  tender 
and  just,  that  if  he  had  a  failing  it  would  be  counted  a  shin 
ing  virtue  in  most  others,  and  among  the  most  precious 
privileges  of  his  life  was  the  right  to  lay  the  homage  of  as 
true  love  as  man  ever  bore  to  man,  beside  that  of  his  dear 
friend's  mother. 

"  Oh,  Elliot,  Elliot,  what  madness  is  this  that  has  wounded 
a  heart  so  tender,  that  noble,  true  and  self-sacrificing  boy," 
sobbed  Mrs.  Briscoe  as  the  letter  fell  to  the  floor. 

"  Shall  I  read  it,  mother  ?  "  asked  Elliot,  picking  up  the 
letter. 

"  Not  if  you  have  done  him  wrong,  my  child,"  said  the 
mother,  drawing  him  to  her  and  looking  in  his  eyes  ;  "  no, 
you  can  not  have  wronged  him  ;  read  the  letter." 

Elliot  still  hesitated,  and  laughed  a  feverish,  dry  laugh 
that  grated  harshly  on  his  listeners'  ears. 

"  You  had  better  read  it,  Elliot.  It  will  show  you  the 
friend  you  have  lost,"  said  his  aunt,  bitterly. 

"  Oh,  then  I  don't  care  to  read  it,"  and  he  flung  it  on  the 
table.  "  Friends  we  lose  are  not  worth  wasting  time  over. 
One  has  enough  to  do  to  manager  those  one  keeps." 

"  Indeed,  Elliot,  if  you  talk  like  that  I  shall  be  forced  to 
believe  you  have  done  this  young  man  some  grievous  wrong; 
for  the  innocent  only  are  forgiving  and  contrite,  the  guilty 
harsh  and  stiff-necked.  I  never  heard  you  utter  such  a 
sentence  as  that  before.  It  is  unnatural  and  unlike  you." 

She  took  the  letter  from  Edith's  hands  and,  presenting  it 
to  her  son,  added  : 

"  Read  the  letter  and  tell  us  what  it  means." 


366  TRAJAN. 

He  took  it  and  walking  over  to  the  window,  with  his  back 
to  the  rest,  read  the  lines  Trajan  had  written,  without  a 
word.  While  he  read,  Bella  and  Kate  entered,  like  the 
rest,  alarmed. 

"What  is  this  about  Trajan  ?  Pierre  says  he  has  gone — 
what  does  it  mean  ?  He  was  in  no  condition  to  travel  and 
gave  no  hint  of  such  a  purpose  yesterday.  What  can  have 
happened  ?  "  asked  Bella,  anxiously  looking  from  one  to 
another  of  the  melancholy  group. 

Her  mother  groaned  :  "  It  is  true  he  has  gone — nobody 
knows  where,  or  why — unless  it  be  Elliot — ask  him." 

"  It's  my  opinion  that  if  ye  wait  for  him  to  tell,  ye'll  be 
as  wise  in  yer  coffins  as  ye  are  now,"  muttered  Kate  signifi 
cantly,  in  a  tone  audible  only  to  Bella  and  her  mother. 
Elliot  finished  the  letter  without  a  word,  folded  it  and 
handed  it  over  to  his  mother,  saying  simply  : 

"  I  have  nothing  to  add  to  that.  The  explanation  seems 
to  me  ample.  He's  gone  and  nothing  can  be  done  to  change 
the  situation.  Let  the  matter  be  dismissed,  and  forget  you 
ever  knew  him." 

Bella,  who  had  taken  the  letter  from  Mrs.  Arden,  spoke  a 
little  imperiously  : — 

"  I  don't  agree  with  you  at  all — you  may  hold  Trajan's 
heroism  lightly,  we  are  apt  to  ignore  what  we  can  not 
emulate,  but  my  mother  and  myself  owe  this  man  a  debt 
that  the  ordinary  tokens  of  life  can  but  poorly  repay.  I'm 
convinced  from  what  I  have  seen  of  Trajan's  character, 
that  he  is  incapable  of  even  the  thought  of  disloyalty  or 
baseness.  I  am  sure  that  if  the  facts  were  known,  he  has 
been  cruelly  outraged.  I  mean  to  know  the  facts  and  it 
will  not  be  long  before  I  shall."  She  spoke  in  a  tone  of 
suppressed  anger  and  with  a  defiant  look  at  Elliot  as  though 
warning  him  that  she  held  him  culpable.  Edith,  who  had 
been  standing  in  the  window  with  her  hand  fastened  upon 
the  treasure  in  her  pocket,  stole  to  her  cousin's  side  during 
the  excited  address,  and  fondling  her  in  a  pleading  way, 


AN  ESSA  Y  IN  ^SOP.  367 

whispered  something  in  her  ear.  Elliot  affected  not  to 
hear  his  cousin's  accusatory  speech.  The  party  descended  to 
breakfast  and  the  incident  was  not  alluded  to  again  in  the 
family  circle.  During  the  morning  Kate  had  a  long  talk 
with  Mrs.  Briscoe,  and  Edith  with  Bella,  which  resulted  in  the 
latter  seeking  out  her  cousin  and  apologizing  for  her  words. 

"  That's  just  like  you,  Cara  Bella — tell  the  truth  in  anger 
and  gloze  it  away  in  repentance." 

"  It's  a  family  faiblesse,  isn't  it?"  she  rejoined.  "Here 
you  are  having  done  something  as  unpleasant  to  you  as  pork- 
eating  to  a  Hebrew,  and  as  unwilling  to  avow  the  fault 
and  mend  it  as  royalty  that  can  do  no  wrong. — However,  I 
promised  not  to  renew  the  subject — but  like  Webster,  sup 
port  my  country — that  is  my  kinsman — right  or  wrong." 

"  That  is  immensely  kind,  but  hardly  flattering — 

"  Love,  faith  and  folly  are  born  blind.  Let  that  content 
you." 

"  I  should  be  well  satisfied  with  the  first — blind  or  other 
wise,"  and  the  young  man  arose,  trembling  and  eager. 

"  I  think  Theo.  will  have  no  difficulty  in  satisfying  you 
then — if  love  is  enough,  and  all  the  rest  thrown  aside — if — 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  I  don't  understand  you — love  is 
enough  I  own,  but  I  was  not  alluding  to  Theo.  I — " 

"  You  have  no  right  to  allude  to  any  one  else,"  and  Bella 
with  a  little  toss  of  the  head  left  him  as  he  sank  into  a  chair, 
muttering,  "  What  an  infernal  jackass  I  am  !  "  Yes,  it  had 
come  to  this.  He  had  shown  the  wolf  yesterday  ;  he  had 
shown  the  fox  to-day.  Moral  blindness  was  following  sen 
sual  impulse.  Manifestly  the  serpent's  trail  was  misleading 
the  seed  of  the  woman,  whose  heel  was  no  longer  raised  to 
crush  the  crested  head  ! 

It  was  Edith  who  after  breakfast  undertook  the  care  of 
Trajan's  effects.  She  was  singularly  buoyant  and  cheery  for 
a  young  person  who  had  been  part  of  such  trying  crises  as 
had  befallen  the  family  during  the  past  six  weeks.  Why 
she  should  lock  herself  in  the  deserted  room  and  set  about 


368  TRAJAN. 

packing  the  young  man's  effects  with  her  own  hand,  and 
this  with  the  air  of  a  priestess  serenely  conscious  of  the 
acceptance  of  her  devotions,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  explain. 

It  was  perhaps  laudable  curiosity  that  impelled  her  to  open 
the  portfolio  and  abstract  two  half-finished  sketches — one 
of  herself,  the  other  of  Elliot.  It  may  have  been  the  thrifty 
spirit  inherent  in  every  genuine  woman  that  sustained  her 
courage  to  take  from  the  wardrobe  the  torn  and  bloody 
waistcoat  that  had  been  stripped  from  Trajan's  riddled  body 
on  the  day  of  the  disaster.  It  may  have  been  fear  that  it 
would  soil  her  person  that  suggested  the  tenderness  with 
which  she  handled  it,  but  I  do  not  remember,  save  in 
dealing  with  saintly  relics,  to  have  ever  heard  of  touching 
the  lips  to  a  blood-stained  vest,  as  this  pious  maiden  did  on 
taking  down  the  famous  garment  in  which  Trajan  had 
encountered  the  bull.  Nor  can  the  value  of  the  object 
account  for  her  seizing  with  a  little  gulp  of  joy  a  dark  and 
withered  flower  that  fell  from  the  watch  pocket  of  the  garment 
as  the  maiden  carefully  folded  it  and  laid  it  in  a  packet  by 
itself. 

The  folded  flower  was  a  marguerite,  and  Edith's  mind, 
though  intent  upon  her  work,  roved  back  to  that  memorable 
day  a  month  or  more  before  when  she  had  plucked  and  given 
it  to  the  young  man,  Avho  had  no  suspicion  of  being  observed 
when  he  thrust  it  furtively  into  his  bosom.  She  held  it  in  the 
palm  of  her  hand  and  sank  down  in  a  dreamy  reverie. 

The  images  therein  must  have  been  very  agreeable,  for  she 
smiled  and  smiled,  and  in  pure  absence  of  mind  pressed  the 
discarded  flower  to  her  lips,  though  within  reach  on  the 
balcony  there  were  clumps  of  glowing  blossoms,  fragrant 
and  gay — some  of  them  red  as  the  blood  when  it  first  crim 
soned  the  white  leaves  of  the  withered  flower  that  she  gazed 
at  so  fondly  in  the  palm  of  her  little  pink  hand.  Then,  I  don't 
know  by  what  whimsical  association  of  ideas  she  was  moved, 
she  drew  from  her  bosom  the  letter  which  we  saw  thrust 
into  her  pocket  a  few  hours  before,  and  as  if  she  had  never 


AN  ESSA  Y  IN  &SOP.  369 

read  a  line,  eagerly  devoured  every  word  of  it,  and  then 
like  the  flower,  pressed  it  to  her  lips,  and  as  if  ashamed, 
held  it  open,  covering  her  bright  face.  Then  she  rose  and 
going  to  the  table  picked  up  the  pen,  examined  it  with 
tender  scrutiny — put  the  point  to  her  lips — to  test  the 
quality  of  the  ink,  I  suppose — though  that  was  dry  as  the 
blood  on  the  marguerite.  Then  pen,  flower,  and  letter  were 
all  put  in  the  envelope,  and  the  pocket  probably  being  other 
wise  occupied,  the  package  was  restored  to  her  bosom. 
When  Pierre  came  to  the  room  an  hour  afterward  the  bag 
gage  was  all  in  order  to  ship  to  the  Rue  Dragon — but  the 
old  fellow  had  to  go  to  Elliot's  room  for  ink  and  pens  to 
make  the  inventory  for  the  agent  ! 

A  cloudy  quiet  settled  down  upon  the  chateau.  Philip's 
room  became  the  daily  rendezvous,  and  that  jocose  philoso 
pher  soon  restored  the  light  current  of  humor  to  the  con 
versation  of  the  various  members  of  the  family  group.  Philip 
had  been  told  casually  of  Trajan's  departure,  and  though 
suspecting  that  there  was  something  in  it  more  than  was 
divulged,  he  did  not  seek  to  penetrate  the  mystery.  Gay 
cheer  was  still  kept  up  at  the  Duclos  Chateau,  where  of  all 
the  guests  only  the  Prince,  La  Baronne,  the  Rossitors  and 
Theo.  remained.  Jules.,  she  gave  out,  had  been  summoned  to 
Paris  by  his  patron  De  Grammont,  and  expected  every  hour 
to  set  out  in  the  suite  of  Prince  Jerome,  who  was  going  on  a 
mission  to  Florence  to  negotiate  an  alliance  with  his  father- 
in-law,  Victor  Emanuel — which  would  give  the  Emperor 
one  hundred  thousand  men  after  the  first  victory  on  the 
Rhine. 


24 


370  TRAJAN. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

TRAJAN  GOES  TO  COURT. 

IT  was  near  midnight  when  Trajan  finished  writing,  packed 
a  few  needed  articles  in  his  knapsack,  put  out  the  lights^ 
and  descended  the  broad  staircase  of  the  chateau  for  the 
last  time.  A  night  lamp  threw  a  dim  wavering  light  over  the 
hallway,  but  he  had  no  trouble  letting  himself  out.  He 
wrapped  the  key  in  a  sheet  of  "paper  and  taking  it  to  the  serv 
ants'  door  fastened  it  to  the  knob.  Then  slinging  his  knap 
sack  lightly  on  his  broad  shoulder  he  set  out  on  the  graveled 
walk,  looking  his  last  on  the  charming  scene  he  knew  so 
well  and  was  so  strangely  quitting.  The  full  moon  was 
directly  overhead  and  revealed  every  object  with  a  clear 
twilight  distinctness.  At  the  bend  in  the  curving  roadway 
where  clumps  of  bushes  cut  off  the  view,  he  turned  and  cast 
a  glance  upon  the  peaceful  house.  Lights  were  still  burning 
in  Elliot's  and  Bella's  rooms.  He  sighed  softly — with  a 
kind  "  God  bless  her,  God  bless  them  all,"  turned  and  struck 
out  with  long  strides  down  the  dark  highway  under  the  trees. 
Two  hours  later  he  was  at  the  Esbly  station,  and  in  time 
for  the  mail  to  Paris.  He  slept  a  good  part  of  the  way,  and 
at  five  o'clock  when  he  entered  the  friendly  studio  in  the  Rue 
Dragon,  he  was  less  jaded  than  he  had  feared.  He  was  a  good 
deal  pulled  down,  however.  As  his  eye  rested  on  familiar 
objects,  he  put  his  hand  to  his  head,  not  quite  sure  whether 
he  was  dreaming,  and  the  dim  morning  light  the  atmosphere 
of  a  vision.  But  his  pictures,  models  and  other  objects, 
carefully  covered  by  the  thoughtful  Madame  Agay,  were  real 
to  the  touch,  and  he  knew  that  another  page  had  been  turned 
in  the  book  of  his  life.  Dressed  as  he  was,  he  threw  himself  on 
the  sheetless  bed  and  slept  the  sleep  of  exhaustion  until  mid 
day.  Great  was  the  bedazement  of  Madame  Agay  when  the 
having  informed  her  that  the  artist  had  come  back,  she 


TRAJAN  GOES  TO  COURT.  371 

hastened  up  to  present  Trajan  his  family,  Madame  Betty, 
Trip,  and  the  little  Amedee.  Madame  Agay  was  de'sole  at 
the  worn-out  figure  of  her  lodger,  but  said  cheerily  : 

"  Attends — for  a  few  days  and  you  will  be  like  the  stalled 
ox  of  the  carnival.  Ah,  I  know  how  to  put  flesh  on  the  bones 
of  fine  fellows." 

Trajan  was  in  high  good-humor.  He  fondled  and  pinched 
the  ear  of  the  delighted  small  boy,  idly  wondering  if  a  cer 
tain  somebody  would  adopt  this  diversely  assorted  family,  if 
she  ever  consented  to  adopt  their  guardian  ?  Madame  Betty's 
fleecy  fur  seemed  to  have  grown  longer,  her  manner  more 
languid,  her  gaze  more  dreamy  and  exoteric.  She  rubbed  her 
soiled  and  rather  disreputable  head  against  her  master's  limbs 
in  a  furtive  way,  as  if  she  dreaded  being  called  to  account  for 
sundry  diversions,  during  her  friend's  absence.  Her  eye  was 
bleary  and  dissolute,  and  it  was  plain  from  the  reserve 
with  which  Trip  received  her  advances,  that  he  could,  had  he 
been  minded  to  forget  the  immemorial  chivalry  of  his  race, 
have  revealed  doings  on  the  part  of  Mistress  Betty  which 
would  have  shaken  the  confidence  of  the  most  indulgent 
master. 

Madame  Agay,  however,  was  constrained  by  no  such 
tradition.  She  narrated  the  history  of  the  three  since 
Trajan's  departure,  and  dwelt  with  much  humorous  ani 
mation  upon  Madame  Betty's  unseemly  diversions  on  the 
neighboring  roofs  and  the  small  progeny  she  had  guiltily  de 
posited  under  the  salon  divan.  Trajan's  reproaches  to  the 
abandoned  Bett  elicited  a  frantic  emission  of  purrs,  an  elon 
gation  of  the  back,  and  a  spasmodic  mew,  which  said  in  the 
plainest  language — "  What  would  you  have  ?  If  one  is 
deserted  to  one's  own  devices  one  can't  immure  one's  self 
from  the  attention  of  one's  kind,  and  would  you  have  the 
race  of  cats  die  out  ?  "  But  Trip  had  been  most  exemplary. 
He  had  guarded  Amedee  in  all  his  sallies  in  the  neighbor 
ing  groups  of  infantile  hostiles  and  always  brought  him  off 
in  triumph,  content  with  the  commendation  of  Madame 


372  TRAJAN. 

Agay  and  the  idolatry  of  the  small  Amedee,  of  whom  he  re 
garded  himself  as  the  special  protector  in  Trajan's  absence. 

All  the  old  whimsicalities  came  back  to  the  young  man  with 
a  delightful  sense  of  fatherly  responsibility.  He  romped  with 
the  little  boy,  discoursed  with  Trip  and  Betty,  and  quite 
forgot  the  interval  of  eventful  weeks  that  had  separated 
them.  That  day  honest  Madame  Bonjean  made  a  little  fete 
at  the  Maison  Aitx  Artists  in  honor  of  the  prodigal.  A  score 
of  the  Beaiix  Arts  lads  were  there,  and  you  may  be  sure  that 
delectable  Beaune  wine  that  made  the  Maison  the  joy  of  the 
quarter  was  not  stinted.  Smug,  who  had  taken  the  second 
prize  in  the  salon,  insisted  that  Old  Gray  should  share  a 
bumper  of  the  vin  du  champagne,  and  I  suspect  that  there  were 
a  great  many  bottles  sacrificed  over  the  return  of  the  wan. 
derer. 

It  was  in  the  humor  that  this  merry  tipple  inspired  that 
the  young  Drake,  who  aimed  at  sharing  Piloty's  "  touch," 
hinted  that  Trajan's  friends  were  dying  to  know  of  his  good 
fortune  ;  that  Belcour  had  darkly  hinted  at  a  princess — "Bo 
nanza,  of  course,"  rescued  by  the  intrepid  camarade  from  the 
jaws  of  death.  But  he  had  left  the  story  at  the  point  where 
prince  Croesus,  with  the  dowager  princess  Croesus,  had  set 
the  caskets  before  the  hero  to  choose  that  which  contained 
the  ivory  miniature  of  the  charmer  and  the  title-deeds  to  the 
treasure  of  Gumguz."  So  every  body  demanded  a  speech 
from  Gray  recounting  his  adventures.  But  Trajan  with 
some  difficulty  begged  off,  making  known  the  insidious  and 
romantic  nature  of  Belcour's  genius.  He  had  fallen  in  favor 
with  no  princess,  and  his  adventure  was  of  the  most  common 
place  description,  not  even  material  for  a  genre  picture  ! 

He  missed  many  of  the  kind  faces  of  the  Beaux  Arts  and 
learned  that  sixty  had  joined  in  one  company  for  the  campaign 
and  that  sixty  more  were  going  to  enroll  themselves  within  the 
week,  and  he  was  urged  to  lead  them.  It  was  the  very  wish  most 
in  his  thought,  but  he  said  nothing  to  the  lads  of  his  purpose. 
From  the  Maison  of  Madame  Bonjean  the  friends  adjourned 


TRAJAN1  GOES  TO  COURT.  373 

to  the  Cafe  Procope.  Gambetta  and  Reclus,  the  great  geo 
grapher,  were  already  present,  when  the  friends  arrived. 
There  was  a  burst  of  applause  as  the  Fine  Arts  Delegation 
entered,  and  the  patriot  Gambetta  left  his  place  to  come 
over  to  the  corner  of  the  new  comers  and  shake  Trajan's 
hand.  He  led  him  apart  and  asked  where  he  had  been,  why 
he  looked  so  pale,  and  what  he  had  been  doing  for  the  good 
cause,  adding  : 

"  You  know  that  at  the  first  moment  we  are  going  to 
declare  the  Republic.  Our  agents  in  the  army  report  that  it 
can  not  muster  two  hundred  thousand  men.  The  Germans 
have  a  million  already  on  the  Rhine,  and  we  expect  every 
day  to  hear  that  Bonaparte  has  committed  suicide  or  abdica 
ted.  They  will  try  to  proclaim  the  Prince  Imperial,  but  we 
have  three  hundred  thousand  men  enrolled  in  the  capital 
and  we  are  devising  means  to  get  arms.  Do  you  think  we 
could  get  any  in  the  United  States  ?  We  want  to  send  some 
one  to  the  German  headquarters  to  find  out  whether  they  are 
willing  to  recognize  the  Republic,  or  whether  they  mean  to 
uphold  Bonaparte.  I  have  suggested  you,  because  you  under 
stand  German.  You  must  hold  yourself  in  readiness  to  set 
out  at  a  moment's  notice.  You  are  peculiarly  adapted  for 
such  'a  mission.  You  are  an  American,  and  if  the  worst 
comes  to  the  worst  would  never  be  suspected." 

"  But  is  there  really  no  hope  of  the  Imperial  armies 
beating  the  Germans  ?  You  know  it  would  be  fatal  to  the 
Republic  to  owe  its  existence  to  the  ruin  of  its  armies.  I 
own  that  I  would  rather  beat  the  Germans  first,  for  vile  as 
Bonaparte  is,  and  dolt  as  he  was,  to  be  trapped  into  this  war, 
he  is  an  angel  of  honest  dealing  compared  with  Bismarck 
and  that  sanctimonious  old  driveler,  King  William.  Bad  as 
the  Bonapartes  are,  they  do  not  represent  a  race  of  lineal 
robbers,  perjurers  and  ruffians  as  the  Prussian  oligarchy  does. 
I  own  I  would  bear  a  half  century  of  Bonapartism  to  see  that 
national  sneak-thief,  Prussia,  put  back  to  its  original  condition 
of  a  beggarly  duchy,  made  up  of  lawless  freebooters." 


374  TRAJAN. 

"That  is  pure  sentimentalism,"  said  Gambetta,  laughing. 
"  Let  us  but  once  make  the  conservative  Republic  modeled 
on  the  American  plan,  march,  and  all  these  Hohenzollern 
puppets  and  Bismarck  reactionaries  will  be  swept  away.  But 
while  they  are  able  to  hood-wink  the  German  people,  an 
intelligent,  over-cultivated,  politically  inept  race,  into  the 
roaring  farce  of  divine  right,  we  must  make  use  of  them. 

"  If  we  can  make  them  see  their  own  interest  in  a  solid 
Republic  here — we  need  not  concern  ourselves  about  their 
objects.  The  Germans  have  shown  in  the  past  that  they 
need  only  a  spark  to  kindle  into  enlightenment.  That  will 
come,  and  all  the  better  that  their  rulers  are  identified  with 
knavery  and  ignoble  thefts."  Then  he  added  cautiously, 
"  Yonder  is  a  spy  of  Pietri's.  Be  careful  that  all  that  is  said 
is  inconsequent.  We  meet  at  Belleville,  Sunday,  and  I  will 
have  something  to  tell  you." 

Who  should  enter  at  this  moment  but  Jules  Carnot. 
He  flushed  on  catching  sight  of  Trajan,  returned  the  dis 
tant  nod  of  Gambetta,  and  came  over  and  shook  hands. 

"  I  thought  you  were  still  at  Crecy  ?  "  he  said  inquiringly. 
"  When  did  you  come'  back  ?  You  are  here  to  help  the 
cause,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"  I  came  back  last  night,  and  I  do  feel  like  doing  all  I  can 
to  defeat  the  enemies  of  France."  Trajan  spoke  with  some 
constraint,  which  was  not  lost  on  the  other. 

"  Well,  there  are  plenty  of  them — the  Germans  are  known 
to  be  a  million  strong,  and,  doing  its  best,  the  empire,  ten 
days  after  the  declaration  of  war,  has  not  been  able  to  get 
one  hundred  thousand  men  near  the  Rhine." 

"  A  million  can  be  gotten,  if  we  all  go — that  is  if  all 
Frenchmen  feel  as  I  feel — that  humanity  is  interested  in 
dispersing  the  hordes  willing  to  fight  under  such  leadership 
and  traditions  as  the  robber  race  of  Prussia." 

"  I  wish  to  God,  all  Frenchmen  felt  as  you  talk,"  said  the 
other,  gazing  with  curious  wistfulness  into  Trajan's  eyes, 
as  if  for  a  moment  on  the  point  of  saying  something  which 


TRAJAN  GOES  TO  COURT.  375 

on  second  thought  he  withheld.  Trajan  knew  what  Jules 
was  thinking — but  gave  no  sign.  He  added,  however, 
frankly — 

"  I  don't  like  the  emperor,  as  you  know,  and  despise  the 
empire,  but  I  will  uphold  him  loyally  in  combating  those 
banded  robbers,  the  Prussians." 

Jules  looked  about  carefully,  and  seeing  no  one  near  said 
in  an  undertone,  "Then  you're  just  the  man  needed  at  this 
moment.  The  regent  wants  some  trustworthy  person  to  send 
to  the  emperor  with  private  despatches.  She  can't  confide 
in  those  about  her,  for  she  knows  very  well  that  in  case  of 
reverse  a  Frenchman,  specially  of  the  court  party,  having 
every  thing  to  expect  from  the  other  side,  will  betray  her  or 
the  emperor,  to  gain  favor.  Would  you  undertake  a  mission 
to  Napoleon^?  He  is  now  en  route  to  Metz,  and  will  be  with 
Froissard  at  Saarbriicken  by  Wednesday  next,  when  the  cam 
paign  will  begin,  unless  the  Germans  assume  the  offensive 
meanwhile."  As  Trajan  remained  silent,  he  added  : 

"  To  tell  the  .truth,  the  leading  friends  of  the  empress 
foresee  peril  for  her  in  case  of  disaster — no  one  now  expects 
a  march  to  Berlin — but  Pietri  declares  that  Lebceuf  has  let 
the  army  get  into  such  ruts  that  he  expects,  as  the  very  best 
issue,  a  disgraceful  peace,  perhaps  the  cession  of  Strasbourg. 
Such  news  would  bring  a  mad  rabble  on  the  empress.  By 
some  means  Pietri  has  got  your  name  as  a  friend  of  the  poor 
lady.  He  showed  her  the  report  of  a  speech  you  made 
before  the  Treize,  and  your  name  has  been  put  down  with 
that  of  three  other  foreigners.  Strangers  could  do  what 
people  who  are  identified  with  Bonapartism  couldtiot — carry 
the  empress  off  without  suspicion." 

Trajan  mused  as  he  recalled  his  dispute  with  Ferre  and 
the  miraculous  agencies  of  the  empire — not  less  than  the 
whimsically  tragic  destiny  that  was  to  make  the  words  spoken 
at  random,  bring  about  what  he  had  never  foreseen. 

"  Why  don't  you  go  ?  The  emperor  can  trust  you,"  said 
Trajan  suspiciously. 


376  TRAJAN. 

"  I  leave  Paris  with  Plon-Plon  to-morrow  or  next  day — or 
I  should  do  it  with  pleasure." 

"  If  the  regent,  in  the  interests  of  the  state,  commands  my 
services,  I  shall  obey  her  ;  but  it  must  not  be  concealed  from 
her  that  I  am  a  Republican.  I  am  for  France  first  and  the 
Republic,  when  France  asks  it.  If  with  this  understanding 
I  am  commanded  to  serve,  I  will  do  my  best,  and  do  it 
loyally." 

"  It  was  the  conviction  of  it  that  prompted  me  to  speak. 
I,  like  you,  am  a  Republican,"  said  Jules,  darting  his  eye  to 
the  corner  where  Pietri's  agent  sat  loudly  applauding  some 
thing  Gambetta  was  saying,  "  and  like  you  I  believe  in  France 
first." 

"  I  shall  make  no  secret  of  my  purpose,  if  I  go,  to  my 
friends  here,"  said  Trajan  as  Jules  moved  off.  '*  J  will  betray 
no  confidence,  but  I  won't  play  a  double  part." 

"  Ah,  as  to  that — use  your  own  judgment,"  replied  Jules 
indifferently.  "  I  should  advise  you  to  say  as  little  as  pos 
sible — but  in  any  event,  my  name  is  not  to  appear  in  the 
negotiation." 

Trajan's  mind  was  still  perplexed  by  this  extraordinary 
contingency  when  he  received  a  piteous  letter  from  Mrs. 
Briscoe,  telling  of  a  dangerous  wound  Philip  had  received 
in  a  skirmish  of  outposts.  He  had  not  written  of  it  himself, 
but  General  Vinoy  had  sent  to  inform  the  family  that  he 
would  do  all  he  could  for  the  young  volunteer.  "  I  dread 
the  thought  of  his  lying  in  hospital  or  prison,  and  I  write  to 
ask  you,  if  you  will  add  to  burdens  I  am  under  to  you  by 
visiting  my*  poor  boy — for  he  is  a  son  to  me,  if  you  should, 
as  you  once  said,  go  into  the  army.  I  can  not  tell  you  my 
anguish,  the  keener  that  I  dare  not  let  Elliot  know,  as  he 
would  add  to  our  misfortunes  by  flying  to  the  army  himself. 
I  do  not  ask  you  to  go,  dear  Trajan — I'm  not  so  selfish  as 
that,  but  if  you  do  go,  will  you  not  comfort  my  darling  by 
your  presence  and  rescue  him  if  he  be  in  danger." 

So  strange  are  the  controlling  circumstances  of  a  man's 


TRAJAN  GOES  TO  COURT.  377 

destiny — this  poor  mother's  plea  helped  the  wavering  sol 
dier  of  democracy  to  become  the  champion  of  an  empire 
and  a  dynasty  that  he  hated. 

The  next  day  Trajan  received  a  note  from  Pietri,  the 
prefect  of  police,  begging  him  to  appear  at  the  Hotel  de 
Ville  at  four  o'clock  and  providing  him  with  a  card  which 
would  assure  him  instant  admission.  He  at  once  took  a 
cab  and  drove  to  the  law  office  of  Cre'mieux,  the  great  advo 
cate,  where  he  expected  to  find  Gambetta.  The  deputy  was 
not  there,  but  a  clerk  directed  him  to  an  office  where  he 
could  learn  his  movements.  After  many  disappointments 
Gambetta  was  found  in  an  obscure  lodging  in  Montmartre. 
He  had  learned  of  the  purpose  of  the  government  to  seize 
all  the  opposition  leaders,  and  for  prudence  he  changed  his 
lodgings  every  day.  Trajan  then  laid  Jules'  proposal  before 
the  Republican  chief,  without  mentioning  Jules'  name.  He 
wound  up  by  showing  him  Pietri's  note,  and  asked  him  what 
he  should  do  in  case  he  was  proffered  a  mission  to  army 
headquarters  ! 

"  Accept,  of  course  ;  you  can  be  perfectly  loyal  to  the 
mission  without  compromising  yourself  with  the  cause.  At 
the  headquarters  you  can  be  of  service  to  France.  You  will 
not  be  long  there.  What  if  in  returning  you  were  taken 
prisoner  by  the  Prussians  ?  Your  ingenuity  would  suggest 
some  means  of  attaching  yourself  for  a  time  to  the  Bismarck 
cabinet.  He  will  need  people  who  know  France  and  the 
French  language,  what  more  natural  than  that  he  should 
give  you  a  trial  ?  During  that  time  you  could  learn  his  pur 
poses  as  to  the  empire  and  the  chance  the  Republic  would 
have,  in  making  a  lasting  and  just  peace.  There  would  be 
nothing  in  this  to  compromise  the  most  sensitive  honor.  It 
is  a  miracle  for  us.  You  must  go." 

Pietri,  a  dark-faced,  sharp-eyed  Corsican,  with  the  craft  of 
his  Italian  origin  outlined  in  every  feature,  questioned  the 
young  man  closely.  He  did  not  seem  displeased  with  his 
avowal  of  Republican  sympathies,  remarking  paternally, 


37 8  TRAJAN. 

"  We  all  have  generous  dreams  like  these  when  we  are 
young.  The  Cross  of  the  Legion  on  your  breast  will  banish 
folly  of  that  sort."  He  concluded  the  interview,  bidding 
the  young  man  be  in  readiness  for  an  instant  summons  at 
any  hour,  and  dismissed  him.  As  Trajan  came  out  of  the 
prefect's  office,  Ferre,  with  two  companions  belonging  to  the 
secret  Republican  club,  were  passing  into  one  of  the  city 
bureaus.  The  Republicans  looked  at  Trajan  in  suspicious 
surprise,  but  he  had  no  time  to  explain  his  presence  in  that 
compromising  neighborhood. 

Meanwhile  little  Amedee  must  be  provided  for.  The 
mysterious  letter  in  the  wallet  still  lay  unread.  Before 
breaking  the  seal,  Trajan  passed  a  whole  morning  in  a 
city  library  examining  the  files  since  the  day  he  had  come 
into  possession  of  the  treasure.  There  was  no  allusion 
to  the  loss.  He  went  to  the  district  police  office  where 
records  and  notices  were  made  of  matters  of  that  sort.  He 
even  stated  a  supposititious  case  to  the  official,  resembling  as 
nearly  as  he  dared  make  it  the  actual  affair.  The  function 
ary  examined  the  records  carefully,  incited  by  a  liberal  fee. 

There  was  no  trace.  One  entry  struck  Trajan  as  possibly 
having  something  to  do  with  his  protfgJ.  His  eye  caught 
the  word  "  suicide."  The  date  was  a  fortnight  after  he  had 
picked  the  child  up  in  the  streets.  A  woman  had  visited  the 
bureau  every  day  inquiring  despairingly  for  a  lost  or  stolen 
child.  It  had  been  entrusted  to  the  guardianship  of  a  wash 
erwoman  in  the  Rue  St.  Etienne.  The  police  could  get 
no  clue  to  the  lost  boy,  and  the  last  line  of  the  entry  recorded 
the  woman's  suicide  by  charcoal  in  the  Rue  de  Blois.  Trajan 
copied  this  and  asked  the  man  if  he  remembered  the  cir 
cumstances.  He  did  perfectly.  "  The  woman  was  mad.  The 
boy  was  without  a  father.  She  raved  of  his  being  a  great 
nobleman  and  told  us  to  seek  him  under  the  lilac  where  the 
nightingales  sang.  The  case  would  have  been  dropped  as  a 
mad  woman's  fad,  if  on  making  inquiries  in  the  Rue  Etienne 
the  loss  of  the  child  had  not  been  verified.  The  woman, 


TRAJAN  GOES  TO  COURT.  379 

who  was  honest,  declared  that  the  boy  had  been  put  to 
board  with  her  by  a  servant.  That  a  woman  at  intervals 
came  to  see  it.  She  always  came  on  foot  and  was  constantly 
crazed  with  the  idea  that  she  was  followed  by  the  mad-house 
keeper." 

"  In  taking  the  child  one  day  on  her  rounds  to  gather  the 
wash,  the  guardian  lost  him  near  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  She 
traced  him  as  far  as  the  Tuileries,  but  there  at  ten  o'clock 
at  night,  she  lost  all  signs  of  him.  The  woman  came  to  take 
the  child  the  next  day,  saying  she  was  going  on  a  journey. 
She  fell  into  raging  madness  at  first  when  she  learned 
that  he.  could  not  be  found.  She  persisted  in  declar 
ing  that  they  had  taken  him  and  would  keep  him  in  the 
mad-house.  She  appeared  here  every  night  for  ten  days  or 
two  weeks,  when  we  identified  her  with  the  suicide  in  the 
Rue  de  Blois.  Her  relations,  or  friends,  denied  any  knowl 
edge  of  the  child,  declaring  that  it  had  no  claims  upon  them 
as  the  mother  had  never  been  married."  Trajan  went  to  the 
Rue  Dragon  morally  certain  that  the  lost  child  was  Amedee, 
and  he  resolved  to  seek  the  washerwoman  the  next  day.  The 
letter,  unaddressed,  he  felt  that  he  had  a  right  to  read,  as 
the  surest  way  to  lead  to  the  restoration  of  the  money.  The 
envelope  inclosed  two  notes.  The  first  he  opened  held 
these  words,  in  a  woman's  hand,  and  written  with  a  lead 
pencil  : 

"  I  see  your  return  in  the  journals.  I  am  no  longer  respon 
sible  for  my  acts  ;  the  police  are  on  my  track  ;  the  people 
about  me  suspect  vou  ;.  I  can  not  speak  to  a  stranger  ;  I  can 
not  go  to  the  post  ;  I  can  not  receive  a  letter.  If  I  leave  my 
room  a  minute  I  can  see  on  returning  that  the  spy  has  been 
here.  I  can  live  so  no  longer  ;  I  will  fly  to  some  strange 
country  ;  give  me  money  and  I  will  quit  Paris — France. 
The  child  is  a  healthy,  robust  little  fellow  ;  he  is  your  image. 
I  dare  not  go  to  your  quarters,  nor  dare  I  receive  a  messenger 
from  you.  Here  is  what  I  propose  :  Provide  me  with  twenty- 
five  thousand  francs  and  I  will  take  the  boy  and  fly  to  England, 


TRAJAN. 

from  there  to  New  Orleans  to  my  kindred.  It  would  be 
useless  to  put  this  money  in  my  hands,  as  they  would  in 
stantly  seize  it.  I  am  allowed  to  walk  every  evening  after 
dark  in  the  Luxembourg.  I  have  for  old-times'  sake  chosen 
the  spot  you  know  under  the  lilac  branch  where  the  letters 
used  to  be  placed.  Make  up  a  packet  and  tie  it  to  the 
branch  between  half-past  eight  and  nine.  I  can,  under  cover 
of  drawing  the  branch  down  to  inhale  the  blossoms,  cut  the 
cord  and  slip  the  letter  in  my  clothes.  I  see  no  other  way 
of  ending  this  vile  bondage  ;  I  know  that  my  going  will  be  a 
relief  to  you. 

"  With  the  amount  of  money  I  name  I  shall  be  out»of  want. 
In  New  Orleans  I  can  find  means  to  live,  if  that  gives  out 
before  the  hate  of  these  fiends.  I  say  not  a  word  about 
the  past  ;  it  is  dead  for  me,  as  it  has  long  been  for  you.  I 
am  writing  this  in  the  bath  and  he  is  in  the  next  room.  I 
shall  send  it  by  the  wash  girl  and  I  shall  look  in  the  lilac 
bush  every  evening  for  a  week  for  an  answer  ;  I  know  it  will 
be  there.  Destroy,  or,  still  better,  return  this  letter  ;  my  last 
experience  warns  me  that  the  most  harmless  may  compro 
mise  me.  Finally,  as  it  would  not  be  safe  to  leave  such  a 
large  sum  unguarded,  direct  some  one  in  whom  you  can  con 
fide  to  keep  the  place  in  sight  and  let  no  one  molest  it,  who 
does  not  answer  my  description.  I  shall  be  dressed  as  when 
you  saw  me  the  last  time.  The  person  set  to  watch  should 
not,  of  course,  know  that  there  is  money.  Send  Francois, 
but  let  him  disguise  himself,  for  they  would  recognize  him 
at  once.  Frangois  will  think  that  it  .is  a  renewal  of  the  old 
intrigue." 

The  second  inclosure  was  but  a  few  lines  in  a  disguised 
hand,  but  not  sufficiently  so  to  conceal  its  business-like 
illegibility  : 

"  I  am  greatly  relieved  to  have  you  at  last  so  reasonable. 
I  very  willingly  deposit  the  sum  you  name,  for  the  end  you 
have  in  view.  Any  other  use  of  it  will  involve  you  in  worse 
than  you  have  escaped,  for  I  can  no  longer  afford  the  scenes 


TRAJAN  GOES  TO  COURT.  381 

of  two  years  ago.  Furthermore,  supposing  all  else  going 
well,  you  can  never  be  secure  with  that  hanging  over  you." 

Trajan  puzzled  over  the  mystery  of  rehabilitating  the  two 
writers.  What  had  befallen  the  wretched  woman  coming  to 
the  lilacs  that  night  long  ago  and  finding  nothing  ?  and 
the  next  and  many  more,  until  she  despaired  and  ended  the 
weary  suspense  in  desperation  perhaps.  And  he  !  What 
share  of  responsibility  had  he  in  this  cruel  comedy  of  woe  ? 

He  remembered  that  the  wallet  was  on  the  ground,  or 
dropped  upon  him  as  he  fell  over  the  back  of  the  bench.  Had  he 
found  it  tied  on  the  limb,  as  the  letter  directed,  he  wondered 
whether  he  would  have  touched  it?  Probably  not,  for  he 
would*  have  realized  that  it  was  placed  there  by  agreement. 
But  even  then,  the  destined  owner  would  not  have  gotten  it, 
for  he  certainly  would  have  remained  to  see  what  befell,  and 
the  poor  morbid  wretch,  crazed  with  the  notion  that  every 
one  was  put  upon  her  as  a  spy,  would  have  refused  to  touch 
it  !  No,  the  game  begun  in  human  guile  had  ended  in  provi 
dential  interposition. 

The  same  day  he  set  out  to  discover  the  clue  to  Amedee. 
The  washerwoman  on  the  Rue  St.  Etienne  could  not  be  found. 
She  had  occupied  a  fifth  floor,  had  quarreled  with  her  lover, 
to  whom  she  was  not  married,  and  had  gone  to  another 
quarter  of  Paris  to  live.  She  had,  of  course,  left  no  address, 
not  caring  to  be  plagued  by  the  old  love  while  on  with  the 
new.  In  the  Rue  de  Blois  the  result  was  the  same.  Madame 
Dreze,  who  received  the  young  man,  did  not  attempt  to  con 
ceal  her  hostility  so  soon  as  his  errand  was  made  known. 

"  Manifestly,"  he  muttered,  "Amedee  is  to  be  left  to  my 
care,"  and  the  thought  gave  him  anew  importance  to  himself. 
He  would  in  future  have  another  existence  to  provide  for.  He 
would  rear  the  child  on  a  perfect  model.  He  should  be  the 
most  learned,  the  most  virtuous,  the  most  manly  little  chap 
in  all  France,  and  when  educated  he  should  go  home  with 
him  to  New  York  and  illustrate  perfect  manhood  to  the 
Manhattan  sybarites  !  Then  as  the  fabric  grew  and  grew,  he 


382  TRAJAN. 

bethought  himself  of  the  old  saw  about  bachelors'  and  old 
maids'  babies.  But  as  this  thought  dampened  his  ardor? 
another,  that  made  his  step  quicken  and  his  eyes  glisten, 
succeeded — possibly  the  reader  suspects  what  it  was. 
Edith  would,  had  she  been  any  where  near  him,  I  think  ! 

That  very  day  two  thousand  five  hundred  francs  out  of 
the  twenty-five  thousand  were  invested  for  the  use  of  the 
boy,  Trajan  holding  himself  a  guardian  appointed  by  Provi 
dence,  and  the  means  a  trust  to  enable  him  to  carry  out  his 
role.  He  boldly  christened  the  little  man  Dreze,  and 
placed  him  in  the  infants'  convent  of  St.  Sulpice,  until  his 
own  fortunes  should  be  more  settled.  The  little  man  howled 
lustily  when  Trajan  got  up  to  go.  He  clung  to  him  scream 
ing  his  little  piteous  plaints  in  the  touching  baby  talk  in  which 
the  French  tongue  is  so  copious,  and  it  was  only  by  lying 
down  with  the  child,  his  arms  clasped  tightly  about  his  neck 
until  he  slept,  that  Trajan  finally  managed  to  relinquish  him 
to  the  kind  fathers,  whom  he  charged  to  be  very  tender  and 
considerate  towards  the  motherless  child. 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  of  August  4th  that,  on 
returning  to  the  Rue  Dragon,  Trajan  found  a  man  wait 
ing  for  him  in  the  little  office  of  Madame  Agay.  He 
might  have  been  the  head  clerk  of  a  well-to-do  notary 
or  confidential  agent  of  a  banker.  He  bowed  gravely 
as  Madame  Agay  presented  him  to  the  young  artist,  and 
handed  him  a  note,  which  he  found  on  opening  contained  a 
line  telling  him  that  the  bearer  was  instructed  to  conduct 
him  to  the  presence  of  the  empress-regent.  In  a  few 
minutes  Trajan  was  ready  to  accompany  the  austerely  dis 
creet  guide,  who  called  a  cab  and  gave  the  coachman  the 
order  to  drive  to  the  Place  Du  Carrousel.  Arrived  there  he 
dismissed  the  vehicle,  waited  until  the  man  had  driven  off, 
then  walked  rapidly  to  the  corner  of  the  Tuileries  known  as 
the  Pavilion  de  Flore.  He  seemed  to  be  known  by  the  guard 
at  the  door  by  some  occult  signal,  and  passed  into  the  vesti 
bule.  In  the  ante-room,  the  lackey  on  duty  gave  him  access 


TRAJAN  GOES  TO  COURT.  383 

to  the  reception  room.  Here  he  left  Trajan,  telling  him 
that  he  would  be  summoned  in  a  few  minutes.  It  was  the 
wing  of  the  palace  occupied  by  the  empress.  There  were  a 
dozen  or  more  seated  on  the  settees,  waiting  their  turn — 
some  in  uniforms  and  some  civilians. 

It  was  fully  a  half  hour  before  the  door  opened  and  a 
page  approaching  Trajan,  said  in  a  low  tone  :  "  Will  mon 
sieur  give  himself  the  trouble  to  follow  me  ? "  They  passed 
through  a  suite  of  sumptuous  drawing-rooms,  where  on  occa 
sion  of  fetes  the  empress  received  her  guests.  Finally  he 
was  shown  to  a  seat  in  a  boudoir-like  apartment  furnished  in 
rosewood  paneling  with  Japanese  decorations  on  the  walls 
and  doors.  He  had  been  seated  but  a  moment,  when  the 
curtains  to  the  next  room  were  drawn  aside  by  two  pages, 
who  held  them  apart  as  a  lady,  whom  Trajan  instantly  recog 
nized  as  the  empress,  entered.  She  turned  and  made  a  sign 
to  the  pages,  and  they  disappeared.  Trajan  had  arisen  and 
stood  in  a  respectful  attitude  waiting  the  sovereign's  com 
mands.  As  Eugenie  advanced  and  fixed  her  eyes  upon  the 
young  man,  she  started,  with  a  puzzled  expression,  passed 
her  hand  over  her  eyes,  as  if  trying  to  recall  something — but 
gave  it  up.  Then  in  a  voice  of  rare  sweetness  and  purity  of 
tone,  said  : 

"I  seem  to  know  your  face,  monsieur — but  it  is  probably 
a  fancy — you  do  not  come  to  court  ?  " 

"  No,  madame,  I  have  never  been  at  court  !  " 

"  Nor,  if  I  am  correctly  informed,  do  you  believe  in 
courts,"  she  continued  with  a  smile.  "  That,  however,  your 
manner  tells.  You,  no  doubt,  wonder  that  your  services  are 
needed  by  our  house.  If  you  knew  more  of  courts  it  would 
be  no  mystery  to  you.  Kings  are  not  served  from  conviction 
as  Republics  are.  I  am  told  that  I  may  rely  implicitly  upon 
your  devotion  to  our  house  so  long  as  it  represents  France. 
That  is  all  1  ask.  The  emperor  is  surrounded  by  spies  and 
enemies,  some  of  them  known,  some  only  suspected,  more 
unknown.  The  consequence  is  that  every  line  sent  him 


384  TRAJAN. 

from  Paris  is  read  in  the  Prussian  headquarters,  before  he 
sees  it  himself.  It  has  been  of  no  use  to  send  high  officials 
of  state,  and  now  we  have  few  to  spare.  1  have  documents 
of  vital  interest  that  must  be  in  the  emperor's  hands  before 
he  engages  the  enemy.  Perhaps  it  may  stimulate  you  to 
your  best  endeavors  if  I  let  you  know  this  much." 

She  paused,  breathing  rapidly,  and  just  a  shade  of  pallor 
on  the  fine  lines  of  her  lovely  face.  "  The  safety  or  destruc 
tion  of  Froissard's  and  MacMahon's  armies  depends  upon  the 
emperor's  receiving  certain  ciphers  I  am  about  to  entrust  you, 
before  the  6th — that  is  the  day  after  to-morrow.  To  reach 
him  you  must  quit  Paris  within  two  hours,  and  as  you  can 
have  no  official  character  it  will  depend  upon  your  ingenuity 
and  resolution  to  arrive  at  the  emperor's  person.  You  will 
receive  certain  verbal  instructions  from  the  agent  who  brought 
you  here.  Beyond  that  you  will  be  without  any  means  of 
making  your  mission  a  success.  Do  you  consent,  mon 


sieur 


Inclining  deferentially,  Trajan  said  in  a  clear  voice  : 

"  I  accept,  madame,  and  I  engage,  if  my  life  is  spared, 
that  whatever  papers  you  entrust  to  me  shall  be  seen  by  no 
eyes  nor  known  to  any  human  soul  through  my  instrumen 
tality,  until  the  sovereign  of  France  has  them  in  his  own 
hands." 

The  empress  hesitated  a  moment,  studied  the  frank  face 
before  her,  and  said  rapidly  as  she  drew  a  packet  from  her 
bosom  : 

"  It  must  be — I  dare  trust  nobody  else.  But  two  people 
in  France  know  the  contents  of  these  papers,  myself  and — 
one  who  is  faithful  to  death.  You  are  a  Republican,  as 
Barnave  was  when  he  put  his  devotion  to  France  at  the  serv 
ice  of  Marie  Antoinette.  Your  service  will  hardly  put  you 
in  the  same  peril,  but  it  will  make  all  France  your  debtor. 
It  will  save  the  lives  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men." 

She  placed  the  packet  in  the  young  man's  hand,  her  eyes 
lingering  on  his  face  with  an  expression  of  solicitude. 


CESAR'S  FORTUNES.  385 

Trajan  bent  very  low  as  he  received  the  trust,  and  answered 
firmly  : 

"  You  may  consider  the  service  done  as  you  have  ordered, 
if  it  be  in  the  power  of  mortal  to  accomplish  it." 

The  empress  inclined  her  head  slightly,  made  a  gesture 
signifying  that  he  should  wait,  and  disappeared  through  the 
arras.  A  moment  later,  the  discreet  agent  entered  and 
handed  the  young  man  orders  for  the  railway  transportation, 
and  a  sum  of  money  to  procure  horses  where  the  rail  was 
inaccessible  or  unavailable. 

"  In  case  you  are  stopped  in  the  .immediate  circle  of  the 
emperor  you  can  open  all  doors  by  this  signal." 

He  tapped  his  forehead  with  the  flat  of  his  left  hand. 

"  Then  the  other  will  say,  *  Business  with  the  emperor  ? ' 
and  you  will  respond,  'By  his  Majesty's  wish.'  Do  not  say 
command,  for  you  will  be  repulsed." 

He  again  showed  him  the  signal  and  repeated  the  words. 

"  While  you  are  talking  with  the  person,  as  you  utter  the 
word  majesty,  change  this  ring,"  and  he  handed  him  a  ring 
of  gold,  made  of  a  coiled  serpent,  "  from  the  left  to  the 
right  second  finger.  The  same  tokens  will  give  you  access 
here,  for  a  month,  when  they  are  useless,  as  others  replace 
them." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

CAESAR'S    FORTUNES. 

IT  is,  as  I  think  I  have  already  remarked  in  the  progress 
of  this  history,  the  unexpected,  the  unforeseen  that  rules 
our  lives.  It  is  rarely  our  first  love  we  marry  ;  our  first 
faith  the  one  we  live  or  die  in  ;  the  calling  we  sigh  for  in 
youth  does  not  absorb  us  in  manhood  ;  the  pleasure  houses 
we  build  in  our  dreams  never  open  a  veritable  door  to  us  ; 
the  beatitude  that  vve  most  admire  does  not  always  rule  our 


386  TRAJAN. 

conduct ;  the  proverbs  we  most  relish  do  not  govern  our 
actions.  We  are  always  turning  to  the  right  hand  and  the 
left,  more  intent  on  the  surprises  of  our  journey,  than  the 
prescribed  courses  we  have  marked  out  for  our  feet.  It  is 
not  our  favorite  author  we  most  diligently  read,  nor  the 
political  conviction  that  aroused  our  young  enthusiasm  we 
sustain.  We  grow  in  action  and  conduct  as  in  body  and  mind. 

The  moral  physiognomy  changes  as  visibly  as  the  physical. 
We  are  not  even  the  dim  echoes  of  our  mental  past,  any 
more  than  the  bodily  likeness  of  our  younger  years.  What 
a  world  it  would  be,  if  we  did  not  suffer  this  subtle  change  ? 
Sometimes  insensible,  sometimes  revolutionary  !  Many  of  us 
advance  in  the  unknown  stream,  oblivious  as  the  rower,  who 
to  go  on  now,  must  sit  with  hisback  to  the  point  of  direction — 
the  bark  of  life  is  thus  propelled — hope  at  the  helm  and 
ignorance  at  the  oars  !  Or,  if  we  take  the  figure  of  the 
poets  with  Time  as  the  tamer,  holding  the  bits  in  our 
mouths,  as  we  curvet  over  the  hills  and  vales,  how  helpless 
we  are  in  the  course,  curbed  in  by  invisible  lines,  environed 
by  intangible  barriers.  Chance,  the  jockey  of  Time,  pushes 
us  on  by  whip  and  spur.  When  the  steed  is  caparisoned 
for  the  arena,  the  lance  side  is  blindfolded  to  shut  out  the 
vision  of  the  bull  plunging  to  the  encounter  with  swelling 
neck  and  lowered  head,  it  is  not  until  his  side  is  torn  by  the 
cruel  horns  that  the  impatient  charger  comprehends  the 
danger. 

It  is  thus  that  Fate,  kindly  or  cruelly,  sends  us  to 
our  encounters,  conscious  only  of  combat  and  difficulty, 
blinded  to  the  acutest  of  our  dangers.  How  many  duels 
would  be  fought,  if  the  duelist  could  foresee  the  end  ?  How 
many  wars  would  be  declared,  if  clairvoyance  were  part  of 
the  science  of  diplomacy  ?  Before  the  gods  were  exiled  by 
the  conquering  processes  of  Christianity,  it  was  by  equivo 
cation  that  the  oracles  involved  their  dupes  in  warfare. 
When  Croesus  set  out  against  Darius  he  was  inveigled  into 
the  enterprise  by  the  deluding  Python's  declaration  that 


CESAR'S  FOR  TUNES.  387 

"  A  great  empire  would  be  brought  to  an  end  by  his  decis 
ion,"  but  he  did  not  suspect,  until  his  army  was  swept 
away,  that  it  was  his  own  empire  that  was  to  go  down  in 
the  battle,  and  make  good  the  prophecy ! 

There  is  a  certain  ideal  purpose  around  which  the  gen 
erous  impulses  of  every  life  move  during  the  ripening  pro 
cesses  of  the  mind.  Though  shadowy  and  undefined,  we 
make  this  the  pivot  of  our  aspirations,  motives,  yearn 
ings,  as  the  starry  system  has  its  central  orbit.  Trajan's 
intellectual  existence  up  to  this  stage  had  been  more  sub 
jective  than  objective.  He  lived  more  in  the  ideal  than 
in  the  imaginary.  He  confused  life  with  its  abstractions. 

He  saw  nothing  compromising  to  the  principle  he  held 
essential  for  the  realization  of  his  ideal  estate,  in  serving 
heartily  and  loyally  the  instruments  of  an  order  of  things 
totally  opposed  to  his  own  profoundest  conviction.  He 
was  like  a  Mussulman  who  takes  service  under  the  hated 
Gaiour  to  save  Islam  from  a  more  threatening  heretic, 
firmly  confident  that  Allah  and  the  prophet  will  in  their- 
own  good  time  rescue  the  crescent  from  the  cross.  Some 
such  thoughts  as  these  passed  through  his  mind  as  he 
hastened  from  the  Tuileries  to  the  Rue  Dragon.  There, 
was  short  time  for  reflection,  however.  He  stopped  on 
his  way  at  the  rendezvous  in  the  Rue  Jacob,  where  by  a 
fortunate  chance  he  encountered  Belcour. 

That  fantastic  patriot  had  been  transformed  into  a  war 
rior  since  his  last  appearance,  and  informed  Trajan  with  airy 
conviction  that  he  was  to  set  out  next  day  on  the  march  to 
Berlin.  All  the  students  had  been  accepted  as  volunteers 
in  regiments  of  their  choice,  the  authorities  distrustingly 
declining  their  proffer  to  serve  as  an  independent  battalion. 

Though  deeply  affronted  by  the  suspicion  involved  in  this 
dispersion,  their  patriotism  was  too  sincere  to  admit  of 
drawing  back.  Trajan  was  greatly  relieved  at  this  intel 
ligence,  for  he,  too,  was  in  honor  bound  to  join  the  corps 
had  it  been  accepted  independently.  The  event  simplified 


388  TRAJAN. 

his  situation  immensely,  and,  begging  his  comrade  to  ac 
company  him,  he  explained  his  present  mission  as  far  as  he 
dared,  and  charged  him  to  remit  a  written  statement  which 
he  had  prepared  to  Gambetta,  who  was  the  titular  chief  of 
the  Republican  Club.  Belcour  was  puzzled,  but  his  confi 
dence  in  his  friend  was  so  strong  that  he  would  have 
trusted  him  had  he  put  the  badge  of  the  Bonapartes  on  his 
sleeve. 

"  I  shall  expect  to  meet  you  in  Berlin,"  he  said,  as  he  took 
leave  of  Trajan  at  the  Rue  de  Dragon,  "  and  I  shall  keep 
notes  of  all  I  see,  that  you  may  electrify  your  countrymen 
by  the  most  brilliant  and  exact  feuilletons  from  the  cam 
paign  " — for  he  suspected  that  the  American's  demarche,  as 
"he  confided  to  the  camarades,  was  entirely  in  the  interest  of 
the  New  York  journal  to  which  he  sent  occasional  letters. 

Greatly  relieved  by  this  meeting  with  Belcour,  Trajan 
mounted  to  his  studio.  There  were  two  letters  awaiting  him 
on  the  mantel,  superscribed  in  hands  he  did  not  recognize. 
The  post-mark  Crecy  threw  him  into  a  delicious  agitation. 
He  suspected  who  had  written  one  of  them  but,  strange  to 
say,  did  not  hasten  to  open  it.  His  mission,  the  pressing 
urgency  of  the  empress,  every  thing  passed  from  his  mind. 
He  sank  luxuriously  in  the  cushions  of  the  divan  where  the 
afternoon  sun  streamed,  conjuring  all  sorts  of  fairy  forms 
on  the  tapestries.  He  looked  guiltily  around  the  room  as 
he  pressed  the  envelope  to  his  lips,  and  then,  slipping  the 
talisman  in  his  vest,  broke  the  seal  of  the  second  letter.  The 
signature  was  Kate's,  and  it  merely  said  that  all  was  going 
well  at  Crecy,  save  Aunt  Briscoe,  who  was  aghast  over  very 
bad  news  she  refused  to  explain.  Kate  promised  him  some 
interesting  gossip  before  long,  and  meanwhile  encouraged 
him  to  expect  an  event  which  would  "open  that  lad" 
Elliot's  blind  eyes  to  the  folly  he  was  perpetrating. 

Trajan  could  not  imagine  what  his  eager  partisan  meant, 
but  he  laughed  as  he  figured  to  himself  a  contest  of 
wits  between  the  astute  Theo  and  this  alert  enemy.  The 


' S  FOR  T UNES.  389 

signature  at  the  end  of  the  second  letter,  which  was  longer, 
was  not  a  surprise. 

"  I  write  you,  dear  Trajan,"  the  latter  said,  "  on  the  sug 
gestion  of  mamma  and  Aunt  Caroline,  to  say  that  you  acted 
very,  very  foolishly.  Bella  was  so  indignant  when  she  found 
you  were  gone  that  she  gave  orders  at  once  for  the  carriage 
to  take  her  mother  and  herself  to  the  station.  She  declared 
that  if  it  had  been  made  so  disagreeable  for  you  here  that 
you  could  not  remain,  it  was  her  duty  to  follow  you  to  Paris 
and  prove  to  you  that  you  had  one  devoted  friend  who  knew 
what  noble  conduct  is.  Somebody  was  very  indignant  when 
she  heard  Bella  talking  like  that,  and  if  Aunt  Caroline  had 
not  called  Bella  away  and  persuaded  her  into  silence,  it 
would  not  have  been  Bella  nor  her  mother  that  had  taken 
the  next  train  for  Paris  !  " 

Betty,  aroused  from  her  afternoon  nap,  had  been  vainly 
endeavoring  to  secure  her  favorite  place  on  her  master's 
.knee,  but,  scandalized  by  his  conduct,  withdrew  and  sat  on 
the  rug  at  some  distance,  pretending  that  the  operation  of 
washing  her  face  for  the  moment  prevented  her  accustomed 
attentions  to  the  master.  It  was  the  rapturous  pressing 
of  the  sheet  to  his  lips  which  surprised  the  circumspect 
Betty,  who  had  never  seen  an  artist  indulge  in  this  ridicu 
lous  pantomime  before,  and  didn't  know  what  to  make  of  it. 

"  Though  no  explanations  have  been  made,"  the  letter 
continued,  "  every  body  knows  that  Somebody  has  added  mar 
tyrdom  to  heroism.  For  the  present  an  evil  power  is  over 

E .  He  is  blinded  by  the  wiles  of  a  wicked  person. 

But  he  is  an  angel,  and  he  will  soon  see  the  wrong  he  has 
done,  and  then,  being  the  noblest  and  best,  or  next  to  the 
noblest  and  best  man  in  the  world,  he  will  efface  his  cruel 
conduct  by  the  most  perfect  repentance.  Somebody  keeps  a 
certain  letter  always  near  her  heart  and  thinks  day  and  night 
of  the  dear  writer,  and  sighs  for  the  time  when  she  can  look 
into  his  dear  eyes  and  tell  him  ever  so  much  that  she  dare 
not  write." 


390  TRAJAN. 

And  so  runs  the  heart's  overflow  in  these  foolish,  sacred 
prattlings,  which,  like  a  prayer,  I  protest  I  can  not  profane 
by  setting  down  here,  in  the  nakedness  of  type.  As 
I  read  the  yellow,  faded  lines  and  look  yonder  at  a  pair  of 
tranquil  blue  eyes,  the  larks  sing  over  the  meadow,  the  brook 
purls  its  restful  drone  under  the  alders,  and  the  valley  of 
my  youth  swims  blooming  and  odorous  in  the  mists  that 
blind  my  drooling  eyes.  Perhaps  there  were  tears,  too,  in 
Trajan's  eyes  as  he  read  the  tender  tale.  But  they  were  not 
bitter  or  salty.  There  was  a  roseate  color  in  the  atmos 
phere  as  he  reluctantly  folded  the  sheets  and  laid  them 
carefully  in  his  treasure-box,  where  the  pulsations  of  the 
heart  might  keep  the  words  alive.  The  clock  on  the  mantel 
warned  him  that  he  had  no  time,  even  for  the  delicious 
reverie  he  felt  in  the  mood  to  indulge.  He  must  be  at  the 
Northern  Station  at  six,  and  it  was  now  five  o'clock.  His 
few  preparations  were  soon  finished,  and  commending 
Betty  and  Trip  to  Madame  Agay's  good  offices,  he  set  out 
buoyantly  for  the  wars. 

There  is  no  time  to  embalm  in  this  history  the  adventures 
of  the  next  four  weeks,  wherein  Trajan  actually  became  the 
confidant  of  the  helpless  and  betrayed  emperor,  nor  the 
stirring  scene  near  Metz  where  Trajan's  knowledge  of  the 
German  tongue  enabled  him  to  snatch  the  imperial  unfor 
tunate  from  the  very  hands  of  a  German  picket  that  had 
unknowingly  surprised  and  surrounded  the  emperor  and  his 
suite.  It  was  not  until  Napoleon's  destiny  was  settled  at 
Sedan  that  Trajan  quit  him,  bearing  a  note  to  the  empress 
bidding  her  trust  implicitly  in  the  young  American,  in  the 
event  of  serious  danger  to  herself. 

Early  on  the  evening  of  September  3d,  Trajan  reached 
Paris  again,  where  the  news  of  the  surrender  at  Sedan 
seemed  not  to  be  known.  He  made  straight  for  the  Tuiler- 
ies,  where,  though  no  one  seemed  to  know  the  event,  the 
spirit  of  disaster  filled  the  air.  By  means  of  a  peculiar  sign 
entrusted  him  at  the  last  moment  by  the  emperor,  Trajan 


CESAR'S  FORTUNES.  391 

penetrated  to  the  white  drawing-room  adjoining  the  boudoir 
of  the  empress.  The  sesame  was  a  red  card,  inclosed  in  an 
oval  glass  medallion,  upon  which  there  was  no  word  written 
— merely  a  wide  open  eye  engraved.  When  this  was  shown, 
the  guards,  lackeys  and  functionaries  fell  back  in  respectful 
awe. 

The  grand  apartment  was  not  lighted,  but  the  glow 
of  the  sunset  filled  the  place  with  a  soft,  luxuriant  radiance. 
The  curtains  he  remembered  so  well  were  raised,  and  a  slim 
figure  in  a  plain  black  dress  came  into  the  room  with  an 
eager  but  weary  step.  Trajan  looked  at  her  curiously,  won 
dering  why  the  empress  had  sent  a  stranger  to  see  a  messen 
ger  who  was  the  last  to  hold  personal  intercourse  with  the 
emperor.  The  woman's  form  was  strangely  familiar.  Hep 
hair  was  almost  white,  the  face  was  haggard,  deep  lines  were 
under  the  large,  heavy  eyes.  The  dress  was  a  plain  black 
cashmere.  Trajan  started  and  bent  his  knee  with  irrestrain- 
able  reverence.  He  detected  in  the  sad  smile  that  the  plain, 
grief-worn  figure  before  him  was  the  beautiful  empress  he 
left  in  the  same  room  four  weeks  before — such  a  vision  as 
Burke  saw  when  his  eyes  rested  on  Marie  Antoinette  at 
Versailles,  transformed  to  the  widowed  queen,  who  laid  her 
white  hair  and  haggard  face  on  the  block  five  years  later. 

"  Oh — madame — your  Majesty — "  Trajan  had  never  given 
her  the  reverential  title  before  ;  he  had  avoided  using  it  to 
her  husband — "  I — I — did  not  recognize  you — " 

"You  are  from  the  emperor — is  it  really  true?  Were  you 
at  Sedan  !  Say  that  it  is  a  tale  of  our  enemies — say  that  he 
is  dead — that  he  died  at  the  head  of  the  guards — God  for 
give  me,  I  could  bear  that !  Say  he  did  not  hand  his  sword 
to  that  odious  Prussian  Tartuffe  !  " 

Trajan  begged  the  unhappy  lady  to  be  seated  and  receive 
the  emperor's  message.  He  gave  her  the  letter,  which  had 
been  sewed  in  his  sleeve,  written  at  Mezieres  by  the  emperor. 
It  was  but  a  few  lines.  The  poor  woman  pressed  it  to  her 
lips  and  sobbed  silently.  Trajan  then  related  all  that  he 


392  TRAJAN. 

had  seen  and  done  since  his  departure  on  the  4th  of  August, 
a  month  before.  He  touched  upon  the  emperor's  unhappy 
and  anomalous  position  after  the  delegation  of  the  command 
to  Bazaine — his  mortal  agony  when  his  judgment  had  been 
overruled  in  Paris — his  pathetic  resignation  and  chivalrous 
conduct  on  the  march  and  during  the  trying  encounter  with 
the  Uhlans  in  the  flight  to  Verdun.  It  was  quite  dark  in 
the  apartment  when  the  singular  narrative  had  come  to  an 
end.  The  empress  sat  a  long  time  silent.  The  entrance 
of  a  lady  of  the  suite,  Madame  Carctte,  aroused  the 
regent.  She  turned  to  the  lady  and  said  in  a  calm,  sad 
tone : 

"  The  dreadful  news  is  true  ;  here  is  a  messenger  from  the 
emperor.  I  have  a  note  written  on  the  3ist,  telling  of  his 
purpose  to  put  himself  in  the  way  of  death  the  next  day, 
knowing  that  the  battle  must  be  lost.  The  guard  which  he 
commanded  in  person  has  been  cut  to  pieces,  but  he  could 
not  die.  Oh — my  God — my  God — have  we  sinned  so 
deeply — could  our  punishment  not  come  in  some  other 
form  !  " 

She  broke  into  a  paroxysm  of  sobs.  Madame  Carette 
wound  her  arms  tenderly  about  the  stricken  woman  and 
soothed  her  like  a  child.  She  brushed  her  eyes,  suddenly, 
and  rising  said  bitterly  : 

"  Here  is  a  Republican  who  has  gone  through  fire  and 
danger  for  the  emperor  and  for  me — what  do  you  think  of 
that  ?  He  is  a  Republican.  He  belongs  to  the  "  Treize  " 
who  have  sworn  to  establish  the  Republic.  He  rescued  the 
emperor  from  a  Prussian  patrol  near  Metz.  He  has  pushed 
through  the  Prussian  lines  and  has  been  a  month  at  our 
services.  Madame  Carette,  I  wish  all  France  were  Republi 
can,  if  this  hero  is  a  type  of  that  faith."  Then  going  over  to 
Trajan  she  asked  excitedly  :  "  What  now  ?  Do  you  go  to 
proclaim  the  Republic  ?  Have  you  ended  allegiance  to  the 
unfortunate?  Can  we  no  longer  trust  to  your  courage  and 
devotion,  now  that  we  need  it  more  than  ever? " 


CESAR'S  FORTUNES.  393 

"  Madame,  my  word  is  pledged  to  the  emperor  that  no 
harm  shall  come  to  you.  I  now  repeat  that  pledge.  What 
ever  befalls  you,  all  that  I  am,  all  that  I  can  do,  is  at  your 
command." 

"  Tre's  bien;  listen  !  this  news  is  not  known  beyond  General 
Montauban  and  myself.  I  have  his  promise  to  withhold  it 
forty-eight  hours.  I  dare  not  trust  my  countrymen  if  the 
worst  comes  to  the  worst.  I  have  already  four  friends, 
foreigners,  sworn  to  protect  me,  if — if  the  worst  should  hap 
pen.  Madame  Carette  will  put  you  into  relation  with  the 
one  I  most  trust,  a  young  Englishman,  who  has  secured 
quarters  in  case  I  am  compelled  to  leave  here — for  I  am 
determined  that  not  a  drop  of  French  blood  shall  be  shed 
for  me  or  mine.  Monsieur,  are  you  willing  to  co-operate 
with  the  dynasty  to  that  extent  ?  "  She  held  out  the  hand 
that  two  months  before  the  proudest  potentate  would  have 
felt  honored  to  touch.  Trajan  pressed  his  lips  to  it  and 
said  gently,  "  Madame,  your  own  son  could  not  promise 
with  a  sincerer  heart." 

She  sighed,  turned,  and  withdrew.  Madame  Carette,  tak 
ing  up  the  conversation  as  if  the  empress  had  just  finished, 
said  : 

"  The  Englishman  her  majesty  refers  to  is  lodging  just 
across  the  Rue  Rivoli  at  the  Hotel  Wagram.  Go  to  him  at 
once.  Take  up  your  quarters  there.  I  will  give  you  a  note 
of  presentation.  He  will  put  you  an  courant  with  the  situa 
tion.  Should  the  empress  summon  you  again,  be  discreet. 
She  does  not  realize  her  danger.  Half  the  bad  news  from 
the  army  is  kept  from  her.  She  does  not  know  that  even 
Count  Palikao  has  been  deceiving  her  and  is  deceiving  her 
now.  Trochu,  too,  is  playing  double.  It  may  be  necessary 
for  her  to  fly  from  the  palace  to-night.  You  must  be  near 
— Mr.  Rawdon  (that  is  our  English  ally)  knows  the  signal." 

She  sat  down  as  she  spoke  and  wrote  a  few  lines  on  a  card. 

"This  will  be  all  you  need.  Above  all,  do  not  spread  the 
report  of  the  surrender  to-night,  until  measures  have  been 


394  TRAJAN. 

taken  to  get  the  garrison  in  from  Vincennes  to  protect  the 
palace." 

She  rose,  bowed  ceremoniously,  and  retired  through  the 
same  curtained  entrance.  Stunned  by  the  evidences  of  a 
collapse,  illustrating  as  he  never  realized  it  before,  the  hollow- 
ness  and  vanity  of  human  greatness,  Trajan  walked  to  the 
window  and  looked  out.  The  streets  were  filled  with  uneasy 
crowds.  The  lights  were  flashing  along  the  quais.  Restarted 
with  a  sharp  pang.  He  was  just  above  the  Sphinx,  before 
which  he  had  seen  Caesar  pass  three  months  before  when 
the  court  withdrew  for  the  summer  to  St.  Cloud.  Then  a 
word  from  the  radiant  empress  would  have  been  law  to  all 
France;  now  it  was  to  him  that  she  uttered  the  prayer  of  the 
helpless. 

Mistakes  in  life  are  like  mile-stones  on  the  highway — one 
can  make  no  use  of  them  until  we  are  abreast  of  or  pass 
them.  Trajan  thought  of  this  as  he  meditated  on  the  fabric 
he  saw  tottering  about  him.  He  wondered  if  the  emperor, 
like  the  poet,  was  musing  over  his  perverted  manhood  and 
wayward  youth,  seeking  in  vain  in  all  his  career  for  any  evi 
dence  of  his  past  conduct  based  on  truth.  His  wild  excesses, 
stupendous  successes,  deep  draughts  of  every  bowl  that 
the  reveler  holds  to  be  joy  ;  the  fever  of  youth  cooled  in 
the  ample  glories  of  wizard  might  ;  chivalrous  impulses  and 
magnanimous  enterprises,  Italy  redeemed  and  revived — the 
protection  of  England  in  her  political  paralysis  ;  the  strong 
rock  of  the  feeble  states,  the  despot  of  his  own — a  foul  man 
hood  resurrected  from  ignoble  debauchery  by  one  colossal 
crime — the  theft  of  his  countrymen's  liberty.  Paris  bedi- 
zined,  the  Circean  cave  of  the  world,  where  the  senses  were 
imbruted  and  the  virtues  stupefied  ;  all  this — the  past  of 
Bonaparte,  Trajan  conjured  as  he  hurried  on  his  new 
mission. 

He  arrived  at  the  Hotel  Wagram  and  in  a  few  minutes 
was  shown  into  Mr.  Rawdon's  presence.  He  was  a  stout 
florid  young  fellow  of  the  ordinary  beefy  English  type, 


CM  SA  &  S  FOR  T  UNES.  395 

large  honest  blue  eyes,  with  white  lashes  and  curly  sunny 
hair.  He  could  not  have  been  more  than  twenty-five,  though 
his  stature,  six  feet  or  more,  gave  him  an  older  look. 

"  I  see,"  he  said  in  the  frank  tone  of  a  Briton,  "  from 
Madame  Carette's  note  that  you  have  been  enlisted  in  the 
good  cause.  I  think  we  shall  have  desperate  work  to  rescue 
the  empress.  Poor  woman,  she  has  no  idea  of  how  critically 
she  is  fixed.  Since  VVoerth  and  Gravelotte  she  has  been  in 
constant  danger  of  her  life.  At  first  it  was  thought  the  fel 
lows  made  rich  by  the  eighteen  years'  pillage  of  the  empire 
would  stand  up  to  her.  But  when  the  Reds  made  the  attack 
at  La  Villette  on  the  i3th,  they  fled  to  hiding  like  so  many 
rabbits.  One  set  of  them  actually  proposed  an  abdication, 
and  a  substitution  of  that  disreputable  sneak,  Plon-Plon.  It 
was  all  arranged,  when  Pietri — who  alone  resists  the  rule 
of  the  ingrate,  put  the  whole  affair  in  the  hands  of  Palikao, 
the  prime  minister.  The  dastardly  business  was  kept  from 
the  empress,  and  on  the  very  next  day,  the  i4th,  when  news 
came  that  Bazaine  had  driven  the  Prussians  across  the 
Moselle,  these  sneaks  crowded  the  Tuileries  to  pay  court 
to  the  star  for  a  moment  emerged  from  eclipse." 

"  You  don't  mean  to  say  that  the  head  of  the  government 
was  kept  in  the  dark  as  to  events  going  on  in  the  capital  as 
well  as  to  the  defeats  of  the  army  ?  for  the  action  of  the 
1 4th  was  the  fatal  one  that  cut  off  Bazaine  from  Verdun." 

"  That's  just  what  I  mean.  Most  of  the  news  she  has 
received  has  been  by  way  of  London,  where  she  has  very 
warm  friends.  That  luckless  morning  of  the  i4Jth  I  was 
in  the  palace  officially.  Imagine  my  surprise  as  I  stood  in 
the  guard-room  when  I  saw  the  empress  enter  among 
the  soldiers,  some  of  them  with  their  coats  off,  others  clean 
ing  their  arms,  others  lying  in  their  cots.  Her  hair  was 
hanging  down  in  disorder.  She  waved  a  telegram  triumph 
antly  and  cried  out,  her  voice  broken  with  emotion — "  Sol 
diers,  the  Prussians  are  defeated.  They  have  been  driven 
into  the  quarries  of  Jaumont."  She  was  half  mad  with  joy, 


39^  TRAJAN. 

for  since  her  return  trom  St.  Cloud  on  the  7th,  her  mind  had 
been  filled  with  forebodings.  She  was  swayed  alternately 
with  a  feverish  desire  to  fly  and  join  the  emperor  and  her 
son,  or  enter  a  convent. 

"  I  have  been  on  confidential  terms  with  the  Duke  de  Per- 
signy  for  some  years  and  acted  as  his  secretary  in  English 
affairs.  So  soon  as  news  came  of  the  first  defeats,  he  saw 
the  game  was  ended,  and  the  first  thing  he  did  was  to  drive 
with  me  to  the  Tuileries  to  get  Conti,  the  emperor's  secre 
tary,  to  extract  some  compromising  papers  from  the  Interior 
Office.  Conti,  too,  knew  what  was  coming.  For  four  weeks 
he  has  been  getting  rid  of  tell-tale  documents.  But  it  is 
no  easy  job.  Had  they  been  carried  off  in  carts,  the 
sharp-eyed  opposition  would  have  set  up  an  outcry.  If 
they  had  been  burned,  there  would  have  been  clouds  of 
smoke  revealing  the  work. 

"  I  have  been  with  him  for  days  at  a  time  under  lock  and 
key.  We  have  torn  up  heaps  of  letters — the  accumulations  of 
twenty  years — with  incriminating  documents,  which  would 
put  some  of  the  Republican  chiefs  in  a  very  compromising 
plight,  particularly  that  old  humbug  Thiers,  who  has  re 
peatedly  offered  his  services  to  the  emperor  as  minister. 
Oh,  they  are  a  nice  lot,  these  Frenchmen  !  There  isn't  an 
Imperialist  that  wouldn't  turn  Terrorist  to-morrow  nor  a 
Red  that  wouldn't  swear  on  the  Bonaparte  bees  for  a  port 
folio  !  " 

Trajan  smiled.  "  You  have  a  poor  opinion  of  the  people 
who  have  given  the  world  the  doctrine  of  liberty,  which 
they  have  not  learned  to  practice  themselves." 

"  Ho,  ho  !  So  you  are  a  Republican  ?  "  He  laughed 
uproariously.  "  By  Jove,  it  is  odd.  I  incline  that  way,  and 
all  the  people  in  the  emperor's  confidence  are  touched  with 
the  craze.  You  know  the  admiration  of  Eugenie  for 
Marie  Antoinette,  and  the  jokes  of  the  Bonaparte  family  who 
hate  her,  that  she's  a  Legitimist  at  heart  ?  Well,  she  has 
gotten  into  her  head  that  she  is  to  be  torn  in  pieces  by  the 


CsESARS  FORTUNES.  397 

mob.  She  shifts  between  a  mad  purpose  to  cut  stick  and 
a  sanguinary  plot  to  arrest  all  the  opposition  and  have 
them  shot,  as  the  city  is  under  martial  law.  But  Lord  bless 
you  !  She  wouldn't  lift  her  neck  from  the  guillotine  if  the 
doing  it  would  bring  a  soul  to  jeopard.  I  was  sent  for  the 
day  of  the  second  defeat  at  Gravelotte.  I  found  her  in 
deep  black — all  the  court,  down  to  the  flunkies,  have  been  in 
black  since  Woerth.  She  was  in  tears,  poring  over  the  chap 
ter  in  Thiers,  where  the  massacre  of  the  Swiss  at  the  palace 
doors  is  described.  The  night  of  the  i4th  the  last  State 
reception  was  to  be  held.  The  empress  was  clad  in  black, 
from  a  jet  coronet  on  her  head  to  black  stockings  and 
shoes. 

"  The  Ministers,  as  I  say,  had  doctored  the  news  and 
made  the  Rezonville  and  Bar  le  Due  affairs  a  great  victory, 
instead  of  a  mere  repulse  of  the  Prussian  vanguard.  The 
buzzards  were  all  out  in  force.  The  gayety  was  sober  but 
sustained.  I  am  glad  I  saw  the  poor  creature  that  night. 
When  I  saw  her  again  the  glorious  auburn  hair  was  silvered, 
the  eyes  were  shrunken,  the  peachy  complexion  was  wan 
and  the  face  haggard.  She  was  thrown  into  spasms  by 
remarking  sinister  eyes  continually  watching  the  palace 
windows.  Pietri  soon  put  an  end  to  that.  Five  hundred 
guards  in  civilians'  uniforms  constantly  patrol  the  palace. 

"They  have  signs  and  pass-words  like  a  secret  society,  and 
suspicious  personages  are  dogged  in  every  movement.  But 
some  of  these  shady  protectors  are  themselves  suspected, 
and  the  foreign  band,  of  whom  you  and  I  are  part,  are 
chosen  to  risk  all  when  the  situation  becomes  desperate.  I 
will  show  you  one  means  of  communication."  He  arose 
and  went  to  the  window,  pulled  the  shade  half  aside 
twice,  then  drew  it  all  the  way  up.  "  Now  watch  the  third 
window  from  the  river  facing  on  the  garden.  Do  you 
see  ? " 

"Yes,  the  shade  moves  aside  once,  twice,  three  times; 
now  it  flies  up,"  said  Trajan.  "What  does  that  imply?  " 


398  TRAJAN. 

"  All  is  well  and  wait.  When  it  is  daylight  the  signal  is 
replaced  by  a  flag,  though  that '  is  regarded  as  risky.  The 
men  whom  the  empress  relies  on  most  unquestionably  are 
the  Corsicans,  of  whom  there  are  fifty  under  Pietri,  but 
they  are  hard  to  use,  as  their  dark  features  betray  them. 
Now  I  will  apprise  you  of  the  work  entrusted  us,  and  then  1 
have  done.  Rooms  have  been  prepared  at  the  Convent  Des 
Abeilles,  Rue  Picpus,  far  out  in  the  environs  near  the  wood 
of  Vincennes.  I  am  charged  with  that.  The  Mother 
Superior  has  given  me  keys  to  the  establishment  and  I  can 
slip  the  empress  in  there  at  a  moment's  notice.  The  con 
vent  takes  up  two  sides  of  a  square.  An  old  postern  that 
has  not  been  opened  for  a  century  has  been  masked  up  ;  I'm 
a  bit  of  a  carpenter  myself  and  I  did  the  work  one  dark 
night. 

"In  case  of  pursuit  we  can  slip  into  the  alley,  and 
the  empress  will  disappear  before  any  one  dreams  of  the 
means.  Twenty  horses  have  been  taken  from  the  imperial 
stables,  the  fastest  of  all  the  stud.  They  stand  harnessed 
night  and  day  to  common  street  cabs  within  two  minutes' 
walk  of  the  Louvre  and  the  Tuileries.  At  the  Hotel  du 
Louvre  a  friend  of  mine  is  stationed  just  as  I  am  here.  His 
signal  is  a  card  in  his  window  answered  by  another  in  the 
Louvre  Library.  Enfin  you  are  just  in  time.  There  will  be 
trouble  to-night,  I  fear.  We  will  relieve  each  other  in  watch 
ing.  You  take  up  your  beat  under  the  colonnade  of  the 
Louvre,  I  will  walk  this  end.  You  will  see  others  near 
you,  but  make  no  sign." 

"  I  shall  have  to  take  a  mouthful  to  eat  first,"  said 
Trajan,  "  as  I  have,  I  may  say,  not  dined  for  a  month."  A 
dinner  was  soon  brought  to  the  room,  the  young  English 
man  keeping  an  eye  at  the  window  on  the  garden  opposite. 
It  was  eight  o'clock  when  Trajan  began  his  novel  function. 
He  paced  up  and  down  the  gay  colonnades  of  the  Rue  de 
Rivoli,  crossing  over  occasionally  to  note  his  fellow  com 
panion's  presence  in  the  window.  He  was  obviously  a  poor 


CAESAR'S  FORTUNES.  399 

hand  at  the  work,  for  he  noticed  that  by  ten  o'clock  several 
suspicious  looking  persons  were  scrutinizing  him.  He  had 
marched  down  leisurely  as  far  as  the  lower  end  of  the 
Louvre  for  perhaps  the  twentieth  time,  when  two  men 
hustled  against  him.  A  low  voice  whispered  in  his  ear: 
"  Make  no  noise.  Stir  but  a  hand  and  you  are  a  dead 
man." 

A  cab  was  standing  ten  feet  off ;  he  was  hurried  into  it  and 
driven  to  the  cabinet  of  the  chief  of  police.  Pietri  was  not 
in,  but  his  deputy  was  on  duty.  Trajan  was  questioned  as 
to  his  movements,  and  suddenly  recalling  the  imperial  talis 
man,  exhibited  it  to  the  deputy.  -The  effect  was  grotesque. 
The  functionary,  hitherto  seated  and  impassive,  arose  defer 
entially,  apologized  in  a  frightened  sort  of  way,  and  ordered 
the  officers  to  conduct  him  back  to  his  station.  When 
Trajan  resumed  his  vigils,  he  was  joined  by  the  Englishman, 
who  laughed  heartily  at  the  incident  and  related  experiences 
of  his  own  not  unlike  it. 

"  The  regular  detectives,  spies,  guards,  or  whatever  you 
choose  to  call  them,  are  jealous  and  suspicious.  They  no 
doubt  gave  you  all  the  signals  as  they  remarked  you  on  duty, 
and  finding  you  ignorant  took  you  for  an  interloper  bent  on 
mischief.  I  sincerely  pity  that  poor  woman  yonder,"  he 
said,  pointing  over  his  shoulder. 

"  Do  you  know  that  while  we  have  been  reducing  tons'  of 
documents  to  pulp  and  making  way  with  them,  she  has  not 
sent  a  pennyworth  away,  such  is  her  absurd  confidence  ! 
She  has  the  richest  wardrobe  in  Europe.  Her  personal 
allowance  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  a 
year  and  she  spends  every  penny  of  it  in  dress  and 
charities.  Not  that  she  cares  so  much  for  the  dresses, 
but  it  keeps  business  brisk.  She  has  indirectly  given 
work  to  thousands  of  seamstresses,  and  by  her  exam 
ple  made  a  hundred-fold  more.  Her  bills  at  Worth's  alone, 
some  of  which  I  came  across  in  my  work  in  the  Cabinet,  ran 
up  to  five  hundred  pounds  a  month.  Her  charities  last 


400  TRAJAN. 

year  were  twenty-five  thousand  pounds !  Much  of  the 
emperor's  valuables  have  been  sent  away  in  small  packets. 

"  Every  body  that  Conti  can  trust  takes  a  package  of  letters 
and  papers  out  of  the  palace  as  often  as  he  or  she  has 
occasion  to  visit  it.  But  it  would  require  six  months'  work 
and  ten  hours  a  day  to  assort  and  take  away  the  valuable 
papers.  What  a  life  that  poor  woman  has  led  since  she 
came  back  from  St.  Cloud  !  I  am  with  Conti  every  morn 
ing  at  six.  At  seven  the  empress  in  a  simple  black  gown, 
such  as  my  governess  used  to  wear,  sits  down  to  coffee  with 
Madame  Le  Breton,  Bourbaki's  sister  and  Madame  Carette. 

"  Sitting  there  with  her  white  cuffs  and  white  collar,  she 
looks  like  a  prim  housekeeper.  At  half-past  seven  her  almoner 
Monseigneur  Boner,  a  remarkable  preacher,  says  mass  in 
the  private  chapel,  the  empress  kneeling  during  the  entire 
ceremony.  Madame  Carette  is  the  most  brilliant  woman  I 
ever  heard  talk.  She  strives  to  keep  her  little  circle  gay, 
but  her  sallies  often  bring  tears  rather  than  mirth  to  her 
mistress'  eyes.  After  mass  she  devotes  herself  to  business, 
and  even  Bismarck  would  shrink  from  the  labors  that  poor 
little  woman  sits  out  from  day  to  day.  I  have  been  there 
from  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  seven  in  the  evening, 
and  beyond  swallowing  a  cup  of  coffee  she  has  never 
budged." 

"  But  what  business  can  she  do — where  are  the  ministers  ?  " 

"  Ah — the  present  ministry  is  a  mere  sham.  Palikao  is  an 
honest,  rough  old  fellow  who  hasn't  an  idea  of  business. 
He  merely  signs  papers  presented  by  the  secretaries,  and 
nice  work  he  has  given  his  sign  manual  to." 

At  this  moment,  Rawdon  stopped  and  looked  at  the  win 
dow  of  the  Pavilion. 

"  There  is  the  signal,"  he  said  breathlessly.  "  Now  for 
work.  You  may  be  sure  something  is  up,  or  it  would  not  be 
there,  for  it  is  now  past  eleven.  Come." 

They  passed  in  through  the  garden  gates.  Crowds  of  idle 
preoccupied  people  were  coming  and  going.  Ministers'  car- 


CsE  SAX'S  FORTUNES.  401 

riages  stood  deep  in  the  square  of  the  Carrousel.  A  display 
of  their  secret  tokens  carried  the  two  young  men  through 
the  lines  of  weary  and  sleepy  lackeys.  They  reached  the 
Pavilion  de  Flore,  the  empress'  apartments,  and  mingled 
with  the  throng.  Ministers,  generals  and  officials  of  all 
grades  were  lolling  about  talking  in  whispers.  The  news 
from  Sedan,  though  not  officially  promulgated,  was  mysteri 
ously  known.  Madame  Le  Breton  appeared  in  the  room  as 
if  searching  for  some  one.  Rawdon  walked  over  to  her,  and 
in  a  moment  nodded  to  Trajan  to  follow  him.  They  en 
tered  the  boudoir  finished  in  panels  whereon  the  loves  of  the 
roses  and  violets  were  painted  in  exquisite  tints  by  Chaplin. 
The  apartment  was  deserted.  The  Venetian  windows  lead 
ing  to  the  balcony  were  open,  and  the  shadow  of  a  figure  in 
black  could  be  discerned  leaning  against  the  rail. 

Madame  Le  Breton  went  out  and  returning  in  a  moment 
beckoned  to  the  young  men  to  follow. 

The  empress  did  not  turn,  and  they  stood  perfectly  still. 
The  city  was  profoundly  quiet.  The  gardens  echoed  only 
to  the  soft  plash  of  the  fountains  ;  the  Champs  Elysees 
stretched  like  a  broad  causeway  of  cloud  between  the  double 
lines  of  flaming  jets  to  the  dim  shadow  of  the  great  arch  of 
the  stars  at  the  other  end.  The  river  flowed  peacefully  by, 
its  ridged  ripples  crossed  by  long  rays  of  light  thrown  from 
the  lamps  on  its  banks.  The  regular  footfall  of  the  sentries 
as  they  paced  up  and  down  under  the  balcony  was  the  only 
sign  of  life  in  the  restful  atmosphere. 

The  miserable  mistress  of  all  this  grandeur  turned  suddenly 
to  the  young  men,  and  said  in  a  broken,  husky  voice  : 

"  They  tell  me  that  this  chateau  can  be  defended  against 
all  the  rabble  of  Paris.  You  are  foreigners — you  can  look 
on  from  the  outside — would  you  do  it  ?  Would  you  defend 
what  is  not  worth  defending,  if  it  must  be  held  at  the  cost 
of  blood  ?  "  She  waited  a  moment,  then  added,  a  tinge  of 
bitterness  in  the  broken  voice  :  "  Have  you  become  courtiers 
too  ?  Is  it  then  true  that  rulers  can  never  learn  the  truth 
26 


402  TRAJAN. 

until  it  is  too  late  ?  If  we  had  known  in  July  what  we  know 
now,  do  you  suppose  we  should  ever  have  fallen  into  M.  de 
Bismarck's  trap  ?  But  he  knew — he  knew — Oh,  my  God, 
every  body  knew  but  those  who  should  have  known  first !  " 
She  looked  off  over  the  city  toward  the  threatening  towers 
of  the  prison  across  the  water,  where  Marie  Antoinette  had 
wasted  her  widowhood  in  squalor.  She  shuddered  and 
hastily  entered  the  room.  The  young  men  followed.  Raw- 
don,  raising  his  voice,  said  gently  : 

"  Your  majesty,  the  truth  is  easily  told.  When  the  news 
from  Sedan  is  confirmed  to-morrow  to  the  city,  which 
already  knows  it  vaguely — you  can  remain  here  only  by 
girdling  your  power  with  bayonets  and  forcing  truce  with 
shrapnel." 

"Ah — Mon  Dieu — Mon  Dieu  !  I  can  never  do  that.  But," 
she  added  suddenly,  as  if  for  the  first  time  realizing  the 
fact,  "  you  are  Republicans — you  desire  our  overthrow — you 
would  not  join  such  a  movement,  why  then  should  you  fancy 
your  friends  would  attack?" 

"Your  majesty  forgets  that  at  such  times  it  is  not  the 
theorists  like  myself  and  monsieur  here  who  control ;  it  is  the 
mob,  who  have  but  a  brutal  instinct  and  know  no  way  but 
force  to  bring  about  their  wishes.  I  think  I  can  speak  for 
my  friend,"  he  added,  nodding  to  Trajan,  who  assented, 
"  when  I  say  that  we  would  overturn  the  empire,  but  we 
should  do  it  by  votes,  never  otherwise,  because  there  is  no 
stability  in  any  other  form.  That  is  why  I  venture  to  re 
mind  your  majesty  that  the  empire  saved  by  bayonets  would 
be  as  insecure  the  day  after  as  it  is  to-day." 

"  But  I  will  ride  out  at  the  head  of  the  troops  in  the  morn 
ing.  I  will  go  in  person  to  the  Legislature  and  dismiss  it. 
I  will  institute  a  new  Council  of  Regency  under  Thiers — 
whom  I  despise — I  will — but  this  is  not  what  I  begged  your 
attendance  for.  I  have  frightful  forebodings,  and  I  ask  you 
to  remain  in  the  palace  to-night.  I  shall  decide  in  the  morn 
ing  what  to  do.  No  matter  who  comes,  or  what  happens,  I 


CESAR'S  FORTUNES.  403 

request  that  one  or  the  other  of  you  will  be  within  hearing 
of  my  voice,  that  one  at  least  of  you  never  lose  sight  of  my 
person." 

At  that  moment  Pietri  entered  unannounced.  He  walked 
straight  to  the  empress  and  asked  a  question  in  alow  voice. 
She  shook  her  head.  The  empress  requested  all  to  be  seated 
and  then  said  aloud  : 

"  Monsieur  Pietri,  speak  freely  before  these  gentlemen. 
They  are  true  friends,  they  have  been  tested." 

Pietri,  covering  his  face  from  the  light,  answered  in  a  low 
voice  :  "  There  is  not  much  to  be  said.  You  sent  orders 
to  Trochu  to  attend  you  here.  Your  first  messenger  was 
told  that  he  was  out.  The  second,  that  he  had  retired  and 
was  not  to  be  disturbed  for  any  body.  When  those  messages 
came,  Trochu  was  in  consultation  with  Thiers  and  that 
group.  It  was  decided  that  Thiers  would  accept  the  presi 
dency  of  the  council,  if  the  emperor  abdicated  in  favor 
of  the  prince  imperial — and  the  Legislature  were  dissolved. 
Orders  were  written  early  in  the  evening  to  Marshal  Bar- 
aguy  d'Hilliers  to  have  the  garrison  of  Paris  in  the  Champs 
Elysee  and  the  gardens  at  daylight.  The  orders  have  not 
reached  him,  and  if  sent  now  they  could  not  be  carried  out 
because  Trochu  would  not  countersign  them." 

"  Then  I  am  at  the  mercy  of  the  mob  in  the  morning  !  " 
exclaimed  the  empress  starting  up. 

"  Your  majesty  is  at  the  mercy  of  your  enemies,  should 
the  arms  and  resources  of  your  friends  fail,"  answered  the 
Corsican  bluntly. 

The  regent  rose  and  paced  the  room  in  weary  abstrac 
tion.  The  coming  and  going  in  the  outer  rooms  sounded 
faintly  in  this  solemn  chamber.  Madame  Le  Breton,  worn 
out  with  fatigue,  was  sleeping  tranquilly  in  her  chair.  Pietri 
got  up  and  drew  back  the  curtains  to  the  outer  salon.  The 
apartments  were  still  filled.  Senators  and  officers  were 
stretched  upon  every  available  bit  of  furniture,  dozing  or 
lost  in  panic.  Lackeys  leaned  against  the  walls  sound 


404  TRAJAN. 

asleep.  The  chill  night  air  came  in  fitful  gusts  through  the 
long  windows,  breathing  the  lingering  perfumes  of  the 
orange  trees.  Messengers  came  and  went  incessantly 
from  the  office  of  the  secretary,  who  occasionally  rose  to 
hand  a  despatch  to  his  mistress.  The  night  wore  on.  The 
empress,  too  anxious  to  sleep,  either  walked  the  room  or 
cooled  her  fever  on  the  balcony.  It  was  a  little  after  six 
in  the  morning  when  Pietri  had  gone,  that  Emile  Girardin, 
the  journalist  and  senator,  was  announced.  He  demanded 
a  word  with  the  regent.  • 

"Ah,"  said  she  bitterly,  "the  grave-digger  of  dynasties," 
alluding  to  Girardin's  appearance  at  the  Tuileries  in  the 
self-same  way  on  the  morning  in  1848  when  Louis  Philippe 
was  packing  his  bag  to  fly — as  John  Smith.  The  empress 
had  guessed  correctly.  Girardin,  with  his  professor's  face, 
his  scrupulous  attire,  his  rosette  of  the  Legion  in  his  but 
ton-hole,  came  forward,  dapper,  cheery,  confident,  his 
smooth-shaven,  young  face  as  serene  as  if  he  had  just  pock 
eted  his  last  great  haul  in  a  profligate's  speculation.  He  came 
to  tell  the  empress  Thiers'  proposition. 

She  laughed  sadly,  and  said  with  a  flash  of  her  old  spirit  : 
"  Thiers  is  a  trump  you  always  hold  in  your  hand  to  play  in 
a  risky  game."  Girardin,  a  man  of  wit,  was  not  discon 
certed  at  this  sally,  and  proceeded  to  expound  the  judicious 
ness  of  bringing  the  malcontents  into  the  government  and 
inviting  France  to  repel  the  invaders.  "  Do  this  at  once," 
he  continued  ;  "  put  yourself  at  the  head  of  the  troops,  ride 
like  the  heroine  you  are,  to  the  Corps  Legislatif,  dissolve 
that  body  of  dolts  that  every  one  despises,  and  all  France 
will  rally  around  you  as  the  Hungarians  rallied  around  the 
Austrian  empire,  when  they  swore  to  defend  their  woman- 
king,  Maria  Theresa." 

The  heavy  eyes  of  the  poor  lady  brightened.  She  liked 
the  counsel.  She  would  do  it.  Girardin  rising  to  go, 
added  :  "  If  your  majesty  appears  on  horseback,  like  the 
chivalric  Austrian,  or  Bess  of  England,  fearlessly  among  the 


CESAR'S  FORTUNES.  405 

people  of  Paris,  you  may  count  on  their  enthusiasm  and  loy 
alty.  But,"  he  added,  coming  back,  "  you  must  first  take  a 
sleeping  potion  and  gain  a  few  hours'  rest,  for  Paris  knows 
its  empress  as  the  queen  of  beauty  first,  and  the  sovereign 
afterward.  Do  this,  and  my  word  for  it  all  will  go  well." 

He  left  the  room,  and  the  empress  with  an  almost  radiant 
smile  sat  quite  still  watching  the  door  where  he  had  disap 
peared,  lost  in  reverie.  She  was  trembling  with  the  tension 
of  the  night.  But  she  could  not  lie  down.  She  rose  and 
touched  Madame  Le  Breton  lightly,  but  that  jaded  woman 
was  in  such  a  sound  and  refreshing  sleep  that  she  had  not 
the  heart  to  disturb  her.  She  glanced  at  the  two  young  men 
seated  by  the  window,  and  said  almost  gayly  : 

"  Come,  messieurs,  I  must  make  use  of  you  for  my  new 
role.  Come  and  help  me  select  a  costume."  She  led  them 
into  her  wardrobe  and  asked  them  to  help  her  take  down  the 
gowns  hanging  on  the  outer  rows.  She  worked  diligently  at 
this  for  twenty  minutes  or  more,  but  the  garments  she  wanted 
were  not  there.  A  few  days  before  there  had  been  a  general 
stampede  of  servants,  who  had  gone  off  carrying  great  quan 
tities  of  imperial  property.  Probably  the  dark  riding  dress 
she  was  seeking  had  been  among  the  spoils  of  her  domestics. 

The  only  gown  that  appeared  suitable  was  of  green  cloth, 
trimmed  with  gold,  but  in  laying  it  over  a  chair  she  decided 
that  it  would  be  too  theatrical  for  such  a  solemn  pageant. 
It  had  been  her  riding  robe  in  her  last  fetes  at  Fon- 
tainebleau,  and  accorded  incongruously  with  such  solemn 
work  as  was  before  her.  The  young  men  were  not  adepts 
in  finery  and  could  give  the  royal  lady  no  advice.  What 
grotesque  mischances  mar  great  destinies  and  shift  potent 
purposes.  No  robe  suitable  for  the  Jeanne  d'Arc  enterprise 
could  be  found  among  the  rifled  finery  of  the  most  lavish 
wardrobe  in  Europe.  The  lack  of  a  petticoat — on  the 
testimony  of  Thiers  himself,  who  spoke  of  it  afterward, 
brought  about  the  expulsion  of  the  dynasty — for  had  the 
woman,  pathetic  in  her  misfortune,  ridden  out  among  the 


406  TRAJAN. 

multitude,  like  Elizabeth,  to  Tilbury  fort,  the  chivalrous 
sentiment  of  Paris  would  have  acclaimed  her,  and  the  his 
tory  of  a  people  would  have  been  written  in  less  lurid  colors. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

AN     IMPERIAL     VICTIM. 

THAT  somber  night  and  sinister  morning  movement 
filled  the  mind  of  the  young  and  ardent  Trajan  with 
conflicting  emotions.  The  prepossessions  of  his  life  were 
not  a  whit  altered  or  shaken  by  the  spectacle  of  helpless  roy 
alty  amid  the  wreck  of  its  grandeur.  If  he  thought  of  the 
political  aspect  of  the  matter  at  all,  it  was  with  a  sense  of  its 
remoteness  to  the  conditions  before  him.  Here,  all  that  he 
realized  was  the  peril  of  a  helpless  woman  :  the  madness  of 
a  blinded  people.  He  forgot  during  that  night  of  trial  and 
miserable  uncertainty,  that  he  was  in  the  very  sanctuary  of 
imperialism  ;  that  he  was  assisting  at  the  vicarious  passion 
and  expiation  of  a  great  crime.  Unconscious  of  the  influ 
ence  the  episode  was  to  have  on  his  own  future,  he  played 
his  part  as  a  spectator,  impotent  to  avert  the  looming  catas 
trophe,  resolute  only  to  circumscribe  its  horror,  if  mortal 
courage  could  do  it.  He  returned  with  Rawdon  and  the 
empress  to  the  apartment,  now  beginning  to  look  garish  and 
slovenly  as  the  sunshine  streamed  in.  The  debris  of  a 
week's  occupation  was  on  the  tables,  the  furniture,  the  floors  ; 
for,  characteristically,  even  the  domestics,  sniffing  the  coming 
change,  had  been  for  ten  days  deserting  their  posts,  and  the 
service  of  the  palace  had  fallen  into  suggestive  desuetude. 
As  Madame  Le  Breton  arose,  refreshed  from  her  timely 
nap,  chocolate  was  brought  in,  and  the  four  singularly  united 
relics  of  a  great  dynasty  drank  in  silence  from  the  pretty 
Sevres  cups,  that  in  happier  days  a  Merimee  had  immortal 
ized  in  verse,  a  Gauthier  had  embalmed  in  fanciful  comedy. 


AN  IMPERIAL   VICTIM.  407 

After  the  apparition  of  Girardin  there  was  a  singular  calm  ; 
even  the  movement  of  the  worn  and  sleepy  lackeys  ceased. 
The  regent's  secretary  alone  continued  his  offices  silently, 
decorously,  faithfully.  The  poor  lady  at  last  said,  as  he 
came  in  to  lay  some  papers  for  her  hand  to  sign  : 

"  Monsieur,  you  must  be  worn  out,  take  some  rest.  These 
gentlemen  will  replace  you  for  a  few  hours  if  there  is  any 
thing  that  must  be  done."  He  bowed  with  deep  emotion 
and  shook  his  head.  He  needed  no  rest,  he  said,  he  would 
remain  at  his  post  while  majesty  refused  to  retire.  Pres 
ently  the  ladies  of  the  court  came  in.  Mass  was  said  in  the 
chapel,  the  two  Protestants  kneeling  reverently  while  the 
slim  figure  in  black  remained  as  if  transfixed  on  the  prie 
dieu,  during  the  short  ceremony.  Trajan  returning  to  the 
window  stepped  out  upon  the  balcony.  It  was  eight  o'clock. 

The  streets  were  in  their  usual  morning  bustle.  No  sign  of 
danger  yet.  Then  his  mind  returned  to  the  whimsical  inci 
dent  of  the  robe  the  royal  lady  had  sought.  Was  it  a  fatality 
that  out  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  costumes,  the  needed 
one  was  not  to  be  found  !  His  mind  recalled  the  grotesque 
chances  that  turn  great  events  out  of  their  ordained  courses. 
Would  the  dark  robe  the  empress  had  fixed  her  mind  upon, 
have  spared  Paris  the  anarchy  and  desecration  of  impotent 
revolution  and  perhaps  anarchy  ?  He  thought  over  the 
same  thing  many  a  time  afterward,  when  the  first  intoxicat 
ing  draught  of  its  power  had  led  the  mob  to  the  saturnalia 
of  crime  that  set  the  world  shuddering.  The  vision  of 
faded  loveliness  the  imperial  lady  still  presented — would  it 
have  touched  the  generous,  mercurial  Parisians  and  held 
them  to  their  allegiance  ?  Was  this  trifle,  after  all,  to  be  as 
potent  as  the  lost  battles  of  the  month  in  bringing  on  imper 
ial  dissolution  ? 

Meanwhile  the  life  of  the  court,  or  a  ghastly  shadow  of 
it,  began  again.  Ministers,  gloomy,  furtive,  reticent,  came 
in  perfunctorily,  transacted  business  briefly,  and  withdrew. 
Veterans  of  the  Crimea  and  Italy  came  to  protest  their 


408  TRAjAtf. 

devotion  and  plead  for  a  chance  to  attest  their  valor, 
though  crippled  and  worn.  Envoys  from  Thiers  and  Gam- 
betta  came  with  warnings  that  the  regent's  friends  should 
prepare  for  the  worst.  Trochu  had  sullenly  refused  to  attend 
his  imperial  mistress.  The  soldiers  ordered  into  the  Place 
de  la  Concorde  do  not  appear.  By  noon  the  gardens  in 
front  of  the  palace  are  filled  with  a  vast  multitude,  who 
move  about  talking,  talking,  always  talking,  the  ominous  chat 
ter  that  precedes  the  thought  simmering  in  the  hot-head  of 
the  Parisian.  Word  comes  that  even  De  Palikao  has  broken 
faith. 

He  had  plighted  his  word  to  say  nothing  in  the  Corps 
Legislatif  of  the  surrender  at  Sedan,  until  the  regent  could 
devise  measures.  He  had  told  all.  The  dechfancc  of  the 
dynasty  had  been  declared.  The  news  of  it  was  now  in  the 
streets.  The  fire  was  on  the  straggling  grains  ;  in  a  moment 
it  would  reach  the  mountain  of  powder.  At  one  o'clock  the 
empress,  colorless,  haggard,  tearless,  dragged  herself  to  the 
window,  Trajan  trying  vainly  to  dissuade  her.  She  waved 
him  back,  saying  in  English  :  "  Have  no  fear,  I'm  not 
going  to  commit  any  Gallic  folly.  I  shall  go  mad  with  this 
suspense."  Her  eye  fell  upon  the  gardens  and  the  miles 
thence  westward  to  the  arch  along  the  Champs  Elyse"e. 

She  gasped,  uttered  a  low  moan,  and  would  have  fallen  if 
Madam  La  Breton  had  not  caught  her.  She  refused  to  quit 
the  window,  fascinated  by  the  horror  the  spectacle  sug 
gested.  Two  square  miles  packed  with  people  lay  at  her 
feet,  under  her  window,  surging  and  waving,  to  the  great 
square,  across  the  bridges,  along  the  river,  along  the  Rue 
de  Rivoli.  Not  a  soldier  to  be  seen  save  at  the  gates,  where 
the  guards  of  the  line  were  jostled  aside  and  companies 
of  the  new  National  Guard — Republicans — were  installed 
in  their  stead.  Trajan  with  gentle  force  drew  the  curtains, 
and  by  an  imploring  gesture  to  Madam  Le  Breton  forced  her 
away  from  the  sinister  spectacle.  At  this  moment  there  was 
a  clamor  in  the  outer  apartment.  Two  men  entered,  one 


AN  IMPERIAL   VICTIM.  409 

was  Pietri,  and  Trajan  with  surprise  recognized  Jules  in  the 
second.  Pietri  spoke  rapidly  and  in  agitation.  The  expul 
sion  of  the  dynasty  had  been  proposed  and  would  be  voted 
so  soon  as  the  question  was  put.  The  soldiers  were  every 
where  fraternizing  with  the  revolutionists.  Rochefort  had 
been  taken  out  of  prison.  Then  in  a  low  tone — "  Your 
majesty  is  no  longer  safe.  Crowds  are  already  before  the 
guard  room  and  in  the  Place  du  Carrousel.  The  Count  de 
Cosse-Brisac  is  acting  like  a  madman  with  a  group  of  young 
noblemen  in  the  hallway.  They  are  flourishing  pistols  and 
threatening  to  provoke  bloodshed — 

"  That  must  be  instantly  stopped.  Go  to  them  and  say 
for  me,  that  I  beseech  them  to  make  no  sign  of  hostility,  to 
shed  blood  under  no  provocation."  Going  to  a  cabinet,  she 
opened  a  drawer  and  took  out  an  opera  glass.  With  this 
she  swept  the  sea  of  faces  stretching  far  under  the  trees  to 
the  Place  de  la  Concorde.  She  uttered  a  cry  of  indignation 
and  loathing,  pointing  to  a  group  near  the  statuary  a  few 
steps  from  the  fountain.  Trajan  looked  and  saw  a  tall 
figure,  armed  and  resolute,  parleying  with  the  crowd. 

"  It  is  Vardou,  the  dramatist,"  said  Rawdon. 

"It  is  an  ingrate,"  said  the  empress  passionately. 

"  You  may  be  sure,  madame,  that  Vardou  is  pacifying  the 
mob,  not  inciting  it,"  said  Madame  Le  Breton.  "  I  know 
him  too  well  to  believe  him  capable  of  such  baseness."  Long 
afterward  Trajan  learned  that  the  intrepid  author  had  saved 
the  woman  who  distrusted  him.  It  was  his  firmness  that 
checked  the  mad  cry  to  advance  on  the  palace.  Still  the 
strain  of  uncertainty  continued.  The  vague  noises  in  the 
ante-chamber  rose  and  fell ;  clamors  broke  out  under  the 
windows.  No  one  knew  what  to  expect.  Trajan  wondered 
why  some  friend  did  not  warn  the  empress  that  precious 
time  was  wasting.  The  wan  group  with  glasses  in  hand 
scanned  the  Place  de  la  Concorde.  There  was  yet  a  possi 
bility  of  quelling  anarchy.  Even  Trajan  recoiled  aghast  at 
the  spectacle.  Not  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 


4*o  TRAJAN. 

thousand  white-faced,  fierce-eyed  people  crowded  the  great 
square. 

Frightful  cries  came  in  blood-curdling  echoes  from  thou 
sands  of  throats.  "  Down  with  the  empire — down  with 
Bonaparte — death  to  the  Man  of  December  !  "  The  soldiers, 
however,  were  there.  Serried  ranks  of  blue  jackets  and 
silver  corslets,  the  cuirassiers  of  the  guard  ;  they  formed  a 
line  of  scarlet  and  blue,  between  the,  as  yet,  unmolten  passion 
of  this  dense  mass  of  destruction,  and  the  hall  of  the  Legis 
lators.  The  alert,  fierce  swords  gleamed  in  reassuring  men 
ace,  the  chassepots  of  the  infantry  were  at  the  touch. 
Would  the  undisciplined  mob,  or  the  educated  host  of  order 
give  way?  The  empress  watches  the  deadly  dumb  show, 
dumb  herself  as  the  sphinx  below  her.  The  soldiers,  reso 
lute,  statue-like,  wait  in  silence.  The  swaying  horde, 
equally  resolute,  but  surging  as  the  sea  surges  when  the  first 
impulse  of  the  simoon  is  upon  it,  waits.  The  clamor  rises 
louder  and  louder.  A  single  act,  a  touch,  and  the  guns  will 
vomit  death  into  the  packed  mass,  unarmed,  save  by  the 
mysterious  paralyzing  potency  of  numbers. 

"  Great  God — forbid  them  to  fire  !  "  cries  the  empress, 
choking,  and  sinks  back  on  the  seat  behind  her. 

Hark — silence — a  sullen  roar,  swelling  until  the  very  walls 
seem  to  reel  ;  the  soldiers  close  up  impassively  ;  the  move 
ment  makes  a  wave  of  flashing  steely  brightness,  like 
lightning  playing  on  the  edges  of  a  cloud.  Silence  again, 
ominous  and  profound. 

11  To  the  lantern  with  the  Bonapartes  ! "  the  guns  are  raised, 
the  guns  are  pointed  ;  "  Banishment  for  the  emperor  !  "  the 
guns  are  aimed  ;  the  ranks  close  in  once  more,  until  the  red 
seems  like  a  vast  liberty  cap,  covering  the  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  heads. 

"  Vive  la  Nation  "•  "  Vive  la  France  ;"  "  To  arms  for  the 
patrie in  danger  ;"  "  Vive  La  Republique,  one  and  indivisible." 
The  arms  are  lowered  and  reversed  ;  the  flash  of  the  swords 
glints  out  an  instant  and  all  is  dark.  The  people  surround 


AN  IMPERIAL   VICTIM.  411 

the  soldiers  ;  they  embrace.  The  evil  empire  of  fraud  and 
sham  is  at  an  end — throttled  by  the  people's  hands  even  in 
the  stronghold  of  its  strength. 

It  was  two  o'clock.  A  tall  man,  black  almost  as  an 
African,  sauntered  carelessly  into  the  apartment.  The 
empress  started  up.  It  was  the  Italian  ambassador,  de  Nigra. 
He  scrutinized  the  anxious  silent  group,  and  then  approach 
ing  the  empress,  said  : 

"  You  have  not  an  instant  to  lose  ;  the  revolutionists  are 
marching  in  the  palace.  They  are  entering  by  the  Carrousel. 
You  must  fly  and  with  as  few  people  as  possible." 

For  the  first  time  the  courage  maintained  through  the 
long  ordeal  wavered.  The  slender  frame  shuddered  ;  the 
voice  refused  to  respond  to  the  horrifying  impulse  of 
abandonment.  She  looked  around  helplessly  ;  at  sight  of 
the  calm,  courageous  faces  of  the  three  men  she  steadies 
her  trembling  limbs  and  the  haggard  eye  illuminates  with  a 
new  impulse.  Then  a  hoarse  roar,  menacing,  confused, 
penetrates  the  massive  walls.  She  mastered  the  sensation, 
gave  her  hand  with  a  melancholy  flash  of  her  old  imperial 
face  to  the  ambassador,  and  said  calmly  : 

"I  will  take  leave  of  our  friends."  De  Nigra  led  her  to 
the  door  opening  into  the  salon.  The  apartment  was 
crowded  with  the  remnant  of  the  families  of  the  friends  of  the 
dynasty.  Prince  Metternich  was  just  about  to  enter  ;  he 
halts  at  her  side  as  she  stands  a  moment  like  a  vision  of  woe 
seen  dimly  through  the  tears  of  the  assembly;  she  bowed  with 
kindly  dignity,  and  was  gently  forced  back  by  the  prince. 

A  hand-bag  is  hastily  packed  by  Madame  Le  Breton,  and  as 
it  is  finished  Count  de  Lesseps  enters  the  room.  The  crowd 
was  already  in  the  ante-chamber,  parleying  with  the  guard. 
Every  thing  had  been  arranged  outside.  The  party  must  fly 
through  the  palace  wing  that  runs  along  the  river  and  make 
its  exit  through  the  Louvre,  where  at  the  moment  there  was 
no  tumult.  Metternich  and  all  save  Lesseps,  Trajan,  and 
Rawdon  were  to  remain  and  keep  the  invaders  at  this 


TRAJAN. 

point,  until  the  flight  of  the  empress  was  secured.  She  had 
wrapped  herself  in  a  plain  water-proof  and  drawn  a  veil 
over  her  face.  The  route  to  be  traversed  runs  along  the 
Seine  side  of  the  palace,  a  distance  of  a  third  of  a  mile.  At 
the  iron  doorway  dividing  the  picture  galleries  from  the 
Pavilion  de  Flore,  the  empress'  quarters,  the  party  were 
brought  to  a  halt.  Heavens — the  strong  doors  are  locked. 
The  warden  had  disappeared  days  before.  The  miserable 
victim  is  caught  in  a  trap.  Trajan  looked  about  for  a 
weapon.  There  was  none.  Madame  Le  Breton  cried  out 
to  wait,  and  hurried  back  along  the  passage.  The  empress 
sank  exhausted  on  one  of  the  red  velvet  banquettes  used  by 
the  door-keeper.  Trajan  looked  out  on  the  river  bank. 
The  street  was  packed  with  people  howling  and  gesticulat 
ing.  As  some  one  in  the  crowd  caught  sight  of  him,  a  fierce 
cry  broke  out : 

"  Down  with  Bonaparte — Vive  la  Republic  !  "  In  the 
brief  glance  Trajan  caught  sight  of  two  sinister,  lurid  eyes 
transfixing  him  ;  he  looked  again.  It  was  Ferre,  the  Com 
munard,  who  had  sworn  to  wreak  vengeance  on  Bonaparte 
and  his  family.  A  pebble  struck  the  glass  as  Trajan  hastily 
withdrew  from  the  deep  embrasure.  In  a  few  minutes, 
which  seemed  an  hour,  Madame  Le  Breton  returned,  her 
eyes  sparkling.  The  key  was  on  the  rack  numbered  and 
labeled,  and  she  had  no  difficulty  in  snatching  it  unseen. 
The  great  doors  swung  open  with  a  sound  that  seemed 
to  encourage  the  forlorn  hope.  Through  the  magnificent 
galleries,  hung  with  the  master-pieces  of  Rubens,  Van 
Dyke,  Leonardo,  Poussin,  Claude,  and  the  imperish 
able  dynasties  of  art,  the  group  fled,  their  steps  sound 
ing  like  the  tramp  of  a  regiment  on  the  polished  marquetry 
floors.  The  square  of  St.  Germain  L'Auxerrois  was  empty. 
A  cab  stood  by  the  curb.  Trajan,  sent  out  to  reconnoi- 
ter,  signaled  that  the  coast  was  clear.  The  veiled  empress 
and  Madame  Le  Breton  passed  swiftly  over  the  tesselated 
pavement  and  entered  the  cab.  As  she  sank  back  she 


AN  IMPERIAL   VICTIM.  413 

raised  her  veil  an  instant  to  catch  a  last  glimpse  of  the 
Louvre.  As  her  eye  rested  on  the  fatal  colonnade,  where 
Catherine  de  Medici  and  the  king  had  stood  on  the  night  of 
St.  Bartholomew,  a  little  ragamuffin,  seated  on  the  edge  of 
the  stone  support  of  the  golden  railing,  started  up  shouting  : 

"  Ah,  ha — there  is  Madame  Bonaparte  !  "  A  group  of 
artisans,  lounging  at  the  corner,  vaguely  caught  the  cry 
and  came  forward.  Count  de  Lesseps,  with  admirable 
presence  of  mind,  caught  the  urchin,  whirled  him  round 
and  sent  him  sprawling  in  the  roadway,  saying  furiously  : 

"  That  '11  teach  you  to  hurrah  for  the  Bonapartes,  when 
the  Republic  is  proclaimed."  The  group  on  the  sidewalk 
approved  this  laudable  sentiment. 

Count  de  Lesseps  got  inside  with  the  empress.  The  cab 
drove  off  at  a  rapid  pace.  Rawdon  bidding  Trajan  hasten, 
hurried  to  the  narrow  street  behind  the  church  where  another 
cab  was  waiting,  got  in,  and  the  driver  apparently  knowing 
what  to  do  drove  off  in  the  direction  taken  by  the  first  cab. 
As  they  turned  into  the  Rue  Faubourg  St.  Honore,  the  cab 
was  just  ahead  of  them.  The  carriage  with  the  empress  had 
just  turned  into  the  narrow  Rue  de  1'  Arbre  Sec  when  Tra 
jan,  glancing  back  uneasily,  caught  a  glimpse  of  Ferre  run 
ning  toward  them  from  the  river  side,  accompanied  by  a 
shouting  group,  whom  he  was  urging  onward.  At  regular 
distances  signals  were  exchanged  with  men  standing  at 
street  corners.  Rawdon  explained  that  this  was  to  apprise 
the  coachmen  that  the  coast  was  clear.  The  driver  of 
the  empress  was  the  famous  Gambier,  the  deputy  master 
of  the  Imperial  horse,  who  had  been  with  Napoleon  in 
exile  in  London  in  1847. 

"  The  man  driving  our  cab,"  he  added,  "  is  a  viscount 
and  colonel  in  the  emperor's  guard — both  are  armed  to  the 
teeth  and  the  box  bristles  with  revolvers."  Happily  the 
misery  of  exile  was  not  to  be  embittered  by  bloodshed.  The 
fugitives  arrived  safely  at  the  house  of  an  American  in  the 
quietest  quarter  of  the  Champs  Elysees,  a  mile  or  more  from 


414  TRAJAN. 

the  Tuileries,  where  the  exhausted  empress  was  carried  in 
and  secluded.  She  fell  into  a  lethargic  sleep — a  sleep  that  the 
physicians  forbade  to  be  disturbed  for  ten  hours,  if  it  could 
be  made  to  last  so  long.  But  the  pre-arranged  plan  did  not 
admit  of  such  delay,  nor  was  the  poor  woman  given  much 
choice. 

Count  Keratry,  who  had  been  installed  head  of  the 
police  at  noon,  who  was  not  ignorant  of  the  efforts  in  behalf 
of  his  former  sovereign,  had  sent  Lesseps  word  that  the 
safety  of  the  empress  could  only  be  secured  by  instant 
flight  from  the  city — even  if  she  had  to  be  carried  in  a  chest 
• — that  the  project  of  secreting  her  in  the  convent  would  be 
madness.  A  council  was  at  once  held.  Trajan,  Rawdon, 
and  Lesseps  were  despatched  to  the  northern  station  to  post 
a  force  of  detectives  in  the  waiting-room  and  keep  the  coast 
clear  for  the  evening  train.  A  little  before  eight  o'clock, 
Trajan,  waiting  at  the  door,  recognized  Gambier  as  the  cab 
rolled  up.  The  empress,  veiled  in  an  ordinary  traveling 
costume,  came  forward  with  Madame  Le  Breton. 

She  took  Trajan's  arm,  entered  the  waiting-room,  and 
talked  quietly  with  her  companion  while  Rawdon  bought 
the  tickets  for  Maubeuge.  When  the  train  drew  out 
of  the  station,  beside  the  foreign  legion  guarding  the 
exile  there  were  a  score  of  devoted  adherents  scattered 
through  the  various  compartments,  well  armed  and  ready 
in  the  event  of  disaster.  But  the  empress  had  no  knowledge 
of  it.  Strangers  were  entrusted  with  the  immediate  care  of 
the  fugitive,  lest  suspicion  should  be  aroused  by  the  presence 
of  any  of  the  well-known  friends  of  the  empire.  On  Wednes 
day,  the  yth,  after  a  detour  in  Belgium  toward  off  suspicion, 
the  party  reached  Deuville  on  the  Norman  coast,  fearing  to 
venture  on  any  of  the  regular  lines  across  the  channel.  At 
the  little  town,  the  escort  locked  in  vain  for  a  bark  to 
carry  the  remnants  of  Caesar  to  safety.  By  the  merest  chance 
an  English  nobleman  had  his  yacht  in  port  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  his  wife  from  Italy.  When  the  situation  had  been 


AN  IMPERIAL    VICTIM.  415 

cautiously  confided  to  him  he  made  every  preparation  for 
receiving  the  hunted  relic  of  a  great  reign.  On  the  evening 
of  the  yth,  Trajan  took  his  leave  of  the  empress.  She 
grasped  his  hand  with  grateful  fervor  and  in  a  broken  tone 
said  : 

"  Monsieur,  you  have  kept  your  pledge  ;  if  those  whose 
fortune  and  indulgence  in  our  days  of  power  we  are 
held  to  blame  for  had  been  half  as  true — yqur  Repub 
lic  would  not  even  have  the  short  term  to  which  it 
is  destined — but  this  sounds  ungrateful " — and  she  smiled 
sadly — "  I  can  only  give  you  the  thanks  of  an  exile.  If 
happier  times  should  ever  come — remember  that  they  will 
be  made  still  happier  by  the  presence  of  one  who  has  been 
the  friend  of  the  betrayed  and  abandoned.  God  bless^you — 
adieu  !  " 

Trajan  bent  over  the  hand  that  held  his  own,  and 
touched  his  lips  to  it  in  painful  emotion.  A  moment  later 
she  was'gone.  He  stood  on  the  sandy  beach,  watching  the 
yacht  as  she  steamed  out  into  the  darkness  and  the  rising 
waves.  As  befitted  such  an  event,  the  wind  rose  in  fury,  the 
little  vessel  was  whipped  and  tossed,  and  many  a  time  the 
wretched  fugitives  fell  on  their  knees,  believing  that  the  hand 
of  God,  like  the  hate  of  men,  had  determined  on  their 
extinction.  Trajan  learned  of  the  terrors  of  the  passage 
afterward  through  a  note  written  him  by  order  of  the  empress 
in  London,  where  with  the  poor  little  prince,  her  son,  she 
waited  many  a  weary  day  in  anguish  a  recall  to  her  regent's 
duties  in  the  cruel  capital  she  loved  so  well.  After  a  night 
of  tempest  the  refugees  landed  at  Ryde,  on  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
not  far  from  that  stately  villa  of  her  royal  cousin  Victoria — 
Osborne,  where  in  other  days  she  had  come  as  the  guest  of 
England.  A  few  hours  later  her  alarm  and  anguish 
were  forgotten  in  the  arms  of  her  son  at  the  little  town  of 
Hastings — where  eight  hundred  years  before  another  French 
prince  had  landed,  who  changed  the  course  of  British  history 
and  the  destiny  of  a  people. 


416  TRAJAN. 

Trajan  stood  on  the  beach  in  the  edge  of  the  storm  that 
settled  on  the  sea,  and  watched  the  gleaming  light  of  the 
little  vessel,  until  darkness,  thick,  impenetrable,  sinister,  fell 
like  a  curtain  and  shut  out  all  but  the  spectral  outlines  of  the 
tumbling  sea.  He  was  penetrated  by  an  indefinable  sadness. 
Certainly  with  his  convictions,  his  inexpugnable  faith  in  the 
rights  of  man  and  the  sanctity  of  the  social  contract,  he  could 
not  regret -^he  end  of  the  December  crime,  nor  the  punish 
ment  of  the  coup  d'etat  criminals.  He  went  to  his  room  in 
the  pretty  hostel,  and  it  was  long  after  midnight  when  he 
sealed  the  letter  to  Somebody,  wherefrom  I  have  taken  the 
details  recorded  in  the  foregoing  chapters. 

On  certain  other  things  said  in  that  voluminous  narrative 
I  do  »ot  think  it  needful  to  dwell.  Even  warriors  in  love 
fall  into  the  fond  follies  that  most  of  us  look  back  upon 
with  a  blush  and  a  sigh.  Trajan  was  no  wiser  nor  more  con 
tained  than  the  rest  of  us.  At  that  particular  epoch,  he 
was  indeed  in  such  a  state  of  exaltation  that  his  dithyram- 
bics  would,  in  the  sober  realities  of  the  present,  sound 
bumptious  and  perhaps  ridiculous.  It  is  the  business  of  the 
biographer  to  veil  his  hero's  humanities,  when  they  take  on 
the  hue  and  tenor  of  the  commonplace  or  the  paradoxical. 
A  concluding  passage  in  the  letter  will  enable  us  to  under 
stand  his  mental  atmosphere  however. 

"  You  may  imagine,"  he  wrote,  "  the  whirl  in  which  these 
strange  scenes  have  left  me.  I  can  not  realize  that  I 
have  been  for  a  month  the  near  companion,  almost 
confidant,  of  the  family  I  have  been  accustomed  to  associate 
with  all  that  is  criminal,  self-seeking  and  debasing.  I  look 
back  upon  the  tragic  episodes,  with  the  same  feeling  that  one 
has  in  rising  from  a  play  of  Shakespeare's  in  the  action  of 
which  he  has  for  a  few  hours  identified  himself.  I'm  ashamed 
to  say  that  there  were  moments  when,  had  the  decision  rested 
with  me,  I  should  have  confirmed  Bonaparte  on  the  throne  that 
he  snatched  by  fraud  and  lost  by  blunders  that  would  be 
grotesque  if  they  were  not  humiliation  and  ruin  to  a  generous 


AN  IMPERIAL   VICTIM.  417 

and  chivalrous  people.  When  I  recall  the  unfortunate 
empress,  the  beauty  that  conquered  Europe,  faded,  the  wit 
that  delighted  Merimee,  the  pundit  of  the  press,  a  tuneless 
echo  of  a  remembered  melody,  lean  find  it  in  my  heart  to  take 
a  vow  as  the  troubadours  and  knights  of  old,  to  make  her 
famous  by  my  pen  and  glorious  by  my  sword.  She  has 
learned  a  bitter  lesson,  poor  woman.  What  more  pathetic 
than  the  humiliating  necessity  of  calling  on  foreigners  and 
political  foes  to  save  her  from  the  ruin  in  which  the  treachery, 
incapacity,  and  greed  of  courtiers  had  involved  her. 

"  To  the  last  she  displayed  more  spirit  and  courage  than 
the  whole  body  of  her  ministers.  It  was  she  who  proposed 
quitting  Paris,  retiring  to  the  Loire,  and  summoning  all 
France  to  repel  the  Germans,  indifferent  to  the  form  of 
government  that  should  emerge  from  the  certain  success 
following  such  a  heroic  measure.  It  was  to  put  this  in 
execution  that  she  asked  old  Palikao  to  hold  back  the  news 
from  Sedan  for  twenty-four  hours.  He  kissed  her  hand  and 
pledged  his  honor  to  do  it  ;  just  before  midnight,  on  the  3d, 
word  came  that  he  had  told  the  story  to  the  Corps  Legislatif. 

"  She  turned  pale,  took  a  signet  from  her  finger,  and  sent 
it  by  a  page  to  the  recreant  minister.  De  Palikao  never  came 
near  her  afterward.  It  is  all  over  now,  and  somehow  I  feel 
as  if  every  thing  were  come  to  an  end  for  me.  I  have  no 
heart  to  go  on,  and  this,  too,  at  the  moment  when  the  dream 
of  years  is  realizing  itself,  without  crime,  mob  law,  or  any  of 
the  repulsive  violence  that  usually  marks  change,  however 
wholesome." 

Somebody,  I  have  no  doubt,  found  other  parts  of 
this  epistle  a  good  deal  more  interesting  than  those  I  have  set 
forth,  for  while  this  page  is  clear,  the  others  are  dim  and 
faded  in  big  blotches,  as  though  steeped  in  some  chemical 
with  an  ingredient  of  salt  in  the  solution  ! 

The  next  night  Trajan  was  installed  in  the  Rue  Dragon. 
He  tried  to  resume  his  long-neglected  painting,  but  the 
hand  that  is  not  the  instrument  of  the  mind  finds  no 


41 8  TRAJAN. 

alembic  dyes  on  the  pallet.  He  gave  up  the  attempt  in 
disgust  and  fell  to  reading.  Even  this  resource  failed  him. 
His  mind  wandered  riotously.  A  pair  of  blue  eyes  were 
constantly  on  the  page,  tantalizing  and  distracting  him.  The 
atmosphere  of  the  city,  too,  was  not  calculated  to  inspire 
the  repose  needed  for  artistic  effort.  His  friend  Gambetta 
was  now  minister.  The  new  government  was  at  work  like 
Titans  to  stay  the  avalanche  let  loose  by  the  falling  away  of 
the  imperial  props.  It  was  fully  a  week  after  his  return 
when  a  note  reached  Trajan  in  Gambetta's  gnarled  jerky 
hand.  He  was  too  busy  to  be  glad  that  his  comrade  had 
escaped  the  dangers  of  the  campaign,  and  had  only  time  to 
tell  him  to  repair  at  once  to  the  cabinet  of  Jules  Favre,  the 
foreign  minister,  who  had  need  of  such  services  as  Trajan 
aloae  could  render.  He,  Gambetta,  had  talked  to  his 
colleague  of  the  young  man,  and  he  might  expect  a  "  most 
sympathetic  welcome." 

At  the  ostentatious  palace  of  the  quai  D'Orsai  he  was 
forced  to  wait  the  entire  forenoon  before  he  could  reach  th< 
minister. 

Jules  Favre,  long  the  leader  of  the  French  bar,  who 
could,  by  the  incomparable  music  of  his  voice  and  the  florid 
play  of  his  fancy,  move  judges  and  juries  to  tears  and  anger, 
sat  in  the  gorgeous  bureau  of  De  Morny  and  his  princely 
predecessors,  the  simple  avocat,  immersed  in  the  heart 
breaking  work  put  upon  him  by  his  countrymen.  His  shock 
of  iron-gray  hair  almost  touched  the  mass  of  papers  he  was 
annotating,  as  Trajan,  after  five  hours'  waiting,  was  shown 
into  the  room.  He  pushed  back  his  chair  as  Trajan  came 
quite  up  to  him,  and  pointed  to  a  seat.  Then  turning  to 
his  secretaries,  commanded  them  to  return  in  ten  minutes. 
When  the  two  were  alone,  he  began  to  talk,  rather  as  if 
resuming  a  subject  than  introducing  one  : 

"  You  were  at  the  Prussian  headquarters  two  days  ;  you 
saw  the  king  when  he  received  Bonaparte's  surrender  ;  you 
heard  the  talk  of  the  camp  and  the  courtiers  ;  can  you  give 


A  N  IMPERIA  L   VIC  TIM.  4 1 9 

us  an  idea  of  the  Prussian  purpose  ?  Narrate  in  the  minutest 
detail  every  thing  you  saw  there.  Spare  nothing,  for  we 
may  seize  from  the  most  inconsequent  trifle  something  that 
will  give  us  a  hint  for  the  work  we  have  to  do." 

Trajan  began  at  the  very  beginning  and  set  forth  every 
thing  he  had  seen  and  heard.  The  secretaries  appearing 
before  he  was  half  done,  Favre  impatiently  dismissed  them 
with  an  order  to  wait  till  he  rang.  He  listened  with  pro 
found  attention,  breaking  in  frequently  with  exclamations 
as  the  narration  went  on. 

"  And  so  you  saved  Bonaparte's  life  ? "  he  said,  coming  to 
the  young  man,  and  laying  his  hand  on  his  shoulder  impet 
uously.  "  Grand  Dieu  !  Grand  Dieu  !  what  a  complicated 
game  we  are  in  !  Do  you  realize,  cold-blooded  young 
Saxon,  that  you,  that  you  alone,  have  made  the  Republic 
possible  ?  Do  you  realize  that  Bonaparte  killed,  or  even 
captured  in  fight,  would  have  touched  the  sympathies  of 
our  emotional  French  natures,  and  that  the  country  would 
have  joined  as  a  man  to  console  his  widow  and  affirm  his 
dynasty  ?  It  was  only  through  the  proof  of  his  selfishness 
and  ignoble  nature  at  Sedan  that  France  could  be  convinced 
of  his  foul,  self-seeking  and  incorrigible  baseness.  I  salute 
you,  young  man — I  embrace  you,"  and  to  Trajan's  con 
fusion,  the  big-bearded  man  lifted  him  from  the  chair  and 
kissed  both  cheeks.  "  Ah,  mon  Dieu  !  the  Bonaparte  little 
dreamed  when  he  flattered  you  that  night  at  the  mill,  sur 
rounded  by  the  Prussians,  that  you  were  the  instrument  of 
Providence  to  enable  France  to  rouse  from  her  stupor. 

"  But  the  Republic  has  more  work  for  you,  and  I  exact  your 
inviolable  secrecy  in  all  that  I  confide  to  you.  Not  even  Gam- 
betta,  not  one  of  the  club,  not  even  your  sweetheart,"  and 
the  big  man  smiled  kindly,  "  must  know  of  what  you  are 
about  to  do.  Here  it  is  in  brief.  I  believe  that  peace  can 
be  made  with  the  Prussians  now  that  Bonaparte  is  gone.  It 
was  against  him  they  professed  to  make  war.  Now  I  am 
going  to  ask  an  immense  service  of  you — one,  in  fact,  that 


420  TRAJAN. 

imperils  your  life  and  mine.  You  must  go  to  the  king's 
quarters.  You  must  get  speech  with  Bismarck  ;  you  must 
lay  before  him  the  points  of  a  memorandum,  which  I  shall 
read  to  you,  but  which  I  dare  not  allow  out  of  my  posses 
sion.  If  it  were  known  to  my  colleagues  or  suspected  in 
Paris,  I  should  be  butchered  as  a  Prussian  sympathizer. 

"  If  you  were  suspected  to  even  know  of  such  a  thing,  the 
Garde  Mobile  would  burn  you  alive.  I  leave  all  the  details  of 
the  business  to  you.  Such  resources  as  you  displayed  at  Metz 
and  Sedan  will  conquer  every  thing.  I  promise  you  no 
reward.  I  would  not  thus  insult  you  ;  but  there  must  come 
a  time  when  the  country  will  be  made  to  know  your  heroism 
and  devotion.  Come  to  me  again  this  evening,  and  I  will 
have  the  plan  of  action  prepared."  He  rang  a  bell.  A  lackey 
entered.  ''Send  Monsieur  Carnot  to  me,"  and,  to  Trajan's 
ungovernable  surprise,  that  devoted  pillar  of  imperialism 
came  forward  from  the  adjoining  cabinet,  as  if  it  were  his 
old  patron,  Duke  Grammont,  the  imperial  minister,  instead 
of  the  abhorred  Republican  that  ruled  the  place. 

"  Monsieur  Carnot,  you  will  be  good  enough  to  see  that 
Monsieur  Gray  is  admitted  to  me  at  all  times,  no  matter 
what  may  intervene.  He  is  an  attache  of  the  conseil  du  mi?i- 
istere"  Jules  bowed,  without  a  sign  of  surprise  or  discom 
posure,  and  led  Trajan  with  serene  gravity  to  the  apartment 
occupied  by  the  body  the  minister  had  named.  He  explained, 
when  they  were  alone,  that  as  an  attache  of  the  late  minister, 
Grammont,  Favre  had  begged  him  to  remain  in  place, 
and  as  his  allegiance  was  to  France  before  the  dynasty,  he 
had  promptly  accepted  the  post.  He  essayed  to  learn  the 
functions  his  quondam  comrade  was  to  fill,  but  Trajan  dryly 
turned  the  conversation  to  other  matters,  and  speedily 
brought  the  interview  to  a  close.  Three  days  later,  master 
of  Favre's  purpose,  he  set  out  for  the  Prussian  headquar 
ters,  the  army  being  on  its  way  to  Paris,  but  where  was  not 
exactly  known. 


A   TANGLED   WEB.  421 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

A    TANGLED    WEB. 

TIME  did  not  bring  content  to  Elliot.  Though  the  sub 
ject  of  Trajan's  flight  was  never  mentioned  at  Crecy, 
he  felt  every  day  more  keenly  the  truth — that  "  To  be 
wroth  with  one  we  love  doth  work  like  madness  in  the 
brain."  He  had  tried  vainly  to  make  himself  believe  that 
the  cruel  words  he  had  flung  at  his  friend  were  the  expres 
sion  of  such  anger  as  Paul  tacitly  justifies  in  his  lustier  days. 
The  scene  in  the  arbor  tormented  him. 

He  strove  in  vain  to  justify  himself  to  himself — a  tribunal 
that  pronounces  the  surest  verdicts,  but  is  not  always, 
unhappily,  equal  to  enforcing  them.  To  the  calm  judgment 
of  this  court  he  valorously  plead  the  most  sophistical  grounds 
of  extenuation.  To  have  parleyed  or  equivocated,  in  the 
face  of  Trajan's  sweeping  charge,  would  have  been  to  admit 
a  doubt  of  the  sincerity  of  his  own  devotion,  at  the  very 
moment  when  the  proof  of  that  devotiou  could  alone  win 
its  object. 

Had  he  been  sure  of  Theo's  love,  nay,  had  he  been 
sure  of  his  own,  he  would  have  heard  the  doubt  cast 
upon  her  integrity  with  derisive  good-humor.  In  this  plea 
to  the  court,  he  had  no  opposing  attorney  to  puncture  the 
weak  point  in  this  chain  of  reasoning,  marred  by  numerous 
lost  links,  as  we  know,  and  he  didn't.  He  lost  sight  of  the 
basis  of  all  his  monologuing — that  it  was  to  convince  him 
self  and  not  others  that  he  had  borrowed  the  language  of 
outraged  love.  It  was  himself  who  doubted  the  reality  of 
the  impulse  that  had,  in  spite  of  himself,  impelled  him  to 
offer  Theo  a  heart  that  was  not  his  to  give.  Had  he  been 
sure  of  his  feeling  for  the  bewildering  coquette  who  ruled 
his  mind,  not  his  heart,  he  would  have  laughed  at  Trajan's 
bizarre  and  theatrical  entree  en  scene.  He  would  have  bur- 


422  TRAJAN. 

lesqued  the  two,  Kate   and    Trajan,   as  they  stood  at  the 
door  of  the  arbor — Satyrs  mocking  the  Loves. 

He  would  have  listened  to  Trajan's  overwrought  warn 
ing,  if  not  as  the  debilitation  of  a  sick  man,  at  most 
as  the  officious  interference  of  a  misguided  friendship. 
While  he  might  lament  the  disaster  that  had  soured 
his  friend,  in  the  loss  of  his  sweetheart,  he  would  have 
regarded  his  own  better  fortune  as  a  tribute  to  his  own 
superior  love-making — for  the  lover  is  selfish  as  the  sea,  that 
not  only  feeds  upon  all  the  springs  of  the  earth,  but  swirls 
in  the  evaporation  of  the  system  that  maintains  it.  It  would 
have  stimulated  his  dormant  complacency  to  see  that  Theo, 
with  a  fine  fellow  like  Trajan  at  her  feet,  had  waited  to  find 
her  fate  in  him.  Victory  is  the  breath  of  our  life,  and  it  is 
rather  sweeter  when  won  from  those  who  wear  the  garland 
of  our  own  admiration.  What  flattery  so  subtle  as  the 
admission  that  we  have  unhorsed  a  valiant  friend  in  the  lists 
of  love  ?  that  the  rose  on  the  lip  and  the  light  in  the  eye 
have  been  given  us  as  the  guerdon  of  our  prowess  ? 

Here  was  the  rub.  Elliot  could  not  determine  whether 
he  was  the  victor,  nor  whether,  being  victor,  he  felt 
happier  in  holding  the  token.  His  swift  infatuation  had 
lost  none  of  its  tantalizing  force.  He  was  still  happy  in 
the  flash  of  her  amber  eye  ;  he  forgot  every  thing  in  the 
sparkling  sallies  of  her  wit.  His  passion  was  fed  by  just 
enough  of  uncertainty  to  make  the  pursuit  a  sensation. 
Much  as  he  had  seen  of  Theo  — and  they  rode  together 
daily — she  was  still  a  profound  mystery  to  him.  She  was 
the  frankest  and  most  outspoken  woman  he  had  ever  met, 
but  he  thought  over  all  her  sayings,  and  was  puzzled  to  gain 
any  thing  really  indicative  of  her  nature  from  the  sum.  She 
was  never  reticent,  but  he  felt  that  while  she  covered  every 
topic,  and  covered  it  well,  it  was  he  who  had  contributed 
the  intimacies,  those  little  personal  revelations  that  bind 
kindred  natures.  He  had  gone  to  her  a  hundred  times, 
resolved  to  lead  her  into  talking  of  herself  and  giving  him 


A    TANGLED   WEB,  423 

the  glimpses  that  weld  love  into  enduring  assimilation.  She 
never  resisted  these  advances.  She  never  remained  silent, 
but  somehow  when  he  thought  it  all  over  afterward,  he  only 
knew  that  she  had  been  keenly  critical,  gay  and  expansive 
upon  things  that  the  whole  world  might  have  heard.  She 
never  avoided  talking  of  Trajan,  lauding  his  noble  nature, 
his  manly  impulses,  but  insensibly  worked  the  topic  around 
until  she  succeeded  in  making  him  monomaniacal  and 
absurd. 

In  his  reflective  moments  he  contrasted  this  effusive  reti 
cence  with  Bella's.  She,  too,  had  the  gift  of  talking  a  sub 
ject  away  from  itself,  and  concealing  by  an  apparent  frank 
ness  the  thought  her  interlocutor  was  bent  upon  uncovering. 
Her  spirit  was  as  keen  as  Theo's,  but  less  placative.  She 
had  nothing  of  the  coquetry  of  egoism  in  her  arts.  She 
resented  the  exclusion  of  woman  from  the  domain  of  collo 
quial  empire  that  home  society  concedes  to  men.  She  loved 
to  shine  at  the  dinner-table,  not  to  gain  personal  devotion, 
but  to  uphold  an  equality  of  intellectual  prowess  with  her 
neighbors.  Bella  could  talk  during  an  entire  evening,  and 
no  dreg  of  scandal,  ill-nature  or  mischief-making  could  be 
detected  in  the  sparklmg  outflow.  If  she  satirized  the  fol 
lies  of  her  sex,  it  was  subjectively,  and  no  woman  who  heard 
her  carried  away  the  slightest  rankling  of  the  venom  that 
often  lingers  after  women's  wit.  She  was  like  a  physician 
whom  long  practice  and  mingling  with  all  ranks  has  made  a 
man  of  the  world.  She  could  talk  with  all  grades  of  intel 
ligence  without  once  suggesting  the  impression  to  any  of 
them  that  she  was  conscious  of  knowing  more,  or  being  bet 
ter  informed. 

In  this  she  was  far  cleverer  than  her  rival,  whose  quick 
wit  sometimes  betrayed  her  into  an  insensible  exhibition 
of  conscious  superiority.  There  was  another  difference. 
Bella's  reticence  was  the  result  of  breeding  as  well  as 
study  ;  she  never,  therefore,  led  her  friends  into  that  dan 
gerous  expansiveness  that  makes  us  feel  like  cutting  our 


424  TRAJAN. 

tongues  out,  when,  in  the  elation  of  sudden  sympathy,  we 
unburden  things  that  we  have  no  right  to  breathe.  Bella 
never  permitted  such  self-immolation  on  the  altar  of  confi 
dence.  Theo,  on  the  contrary,  held  every  human  being  by 
a  chain  of  self-forged  serfdom.  The  victim  of  her  wiles, 
vaguely  impressed  with  the  belief  that  the  artful  diplomate 
had  opened  the  secrets  of  her  cabinet,  blurted  out  things 
long  buried  from  the  censorious  eyes  of  the  world.  Both 
Bella  and  Theo  were  alike  in  avoiding  the  obtrusive  reti 
cence  which  incites  the  most  indifferent.  They  never  came 
into  a  group,  looking  wise  and  smiling  significantly  when 
people  and  events  were  mentioned,  as  though  challenging 
some  one  to  give  them  provocation  to  reveal  the  un reveal- 
able.  It  was  the  possession  of  these  curious  qualities  by  the 
two  women  which  led  Elliot  into  the  Iliad  of  woes  I  am  now 
describing.  Had  Bella  been  the  ordinary  sort  of  woman, 
Elliot  would  have  been  her  accepted  lover  from  the  first, 
Theo  never  could  have  made  her  sinister  diversion,  and  half 
the  incidents  of  this  history  would  have  been  a  dreamer's 
dream. 

With  the  continued  startling  news  from  the  army,  the 
Grovels  began  to  discuss  flight.  Tl;e  head  of  the  family 
had  interests  that  could  be  attended  to  only  in  Paris.  At 
that  time  there  was  no  thought  of  the  total  collapse  of  the 
French  armies.  The  crisis  was  not  without  its  significance 
to  Theo.  Her.  revenues  would  now  come  to  an  end,  as  Ameri 
cans  would  hardly  come  to  Paris  to  get  the  fashions,  and  she 
must  come  to  a  resolution  as  to  her  future.  The  absence  of 
Jules  tormented  her.  She  had  set  her  heart  on  his  marrying 
Bella,  quite  unconcerned  as  to  the  entanglement  of  the 
prince,  which  she  felt  confident  she  could  cut  when  the  time 
came.  She  would  have  preferred  remaining  at  Crecy  some 
time  longer,  and  hinted  as  much  to  Mrs.  Arden  one  day 
when  the  Grovels'  preparations  for  departure  were  nearly 
ended. 

But    Mrs.   Arden,   without  having  discussed  the    matter, 


A    TANGLED   WEB.  425 

knew  that  Theo  was  not  liked  by  her  daughter  or  Bella. 
For  herself,  she  would  not  have  objected  to  the  young 
lady's  presence  ;  indeed,  she  would  have  been  rather  glad, 
for  she  was  fond  of  visitors,  and  thought  Theo.  a  most 
agreeable  guest.  To  Theo's  careless  expression  of  dislike 
to  returning  to  the  turmoil  of  the  city,  distracted  as  it  was 
by  war  and  revolution,  she  answered  that  her  family,  too, 
would  be  obliged  to  make  a  move,  as  every  thing  was  unset 
tled,  and  they  must  be  where  Elliot  could  attend  their 
interests  in  America.  The  discomfited  schemer  said  no 
more,  but,  riding  out  that  evening,  she  asked  Elliot  if  the 
inn  at  Crecy  was  habitable  for  a  lady  !  She  added  that  it 
might  be  necessary  for  her  to  take  rooms  there  with  her 
kinswoman  La  Baronne,  who  had  received  word  from  Meaux 
that  the  Prussians  would  be  there  within  a  few  days. 

"  But  why  not  come  to  us  ?  My  mother  will  be  enchanted 
to  receive  you,"  cried  the  young  man  delightedly. 

"  That  would  be  charming,"  she  replied  quietly,  and 
dropped  the  subject.  That  night  Elliot  hastened  to  his 
mother's  room  to  inform  her  of  Theo's  embarrassment,  and 
suggested  that  she  should  be  invited  to  stay  at  Les  Char- 
mettes.  Edith,  who.  was  present  and  came  behind  her 
brother,  stood  with  her  arms  around  his  neck,  brushing  her 
cheek  against  the  shadowy  down  that  gave  promise  of  future 
hirsute  glory,  looked  up  suddenly,  and  catching  her  mother's 
eye,  shook  her  head,  unseen  by  the  victim  of  her  caressing 
duplicity. 

"  My  dear,  we  can't  very  well  receive  Miss  Carnot  now  ; 
as  you  said  yesterday,  there's  no  telling  how  soon  we  may 
have  to  quit  the  chateau.  Just  now  none  of  us  feel  equal 
to  entertaining  strangers." 

"  But  she  might  come  and  stay  while  we  stay.  I  see  no 
inconvenience  in  that." 

"  I'd  rather  you  wouldn't  ask  it,  Elliot,"  said  Mrs.  Arden 
doubtingly.  "  You  say  I'm  the  tyrant  of  the  household, 
indulge  me  in  this  rare  exhibition  of  inhospitality." 


426  TRAJAN. 

1  But  really,  Madame  Nero,  there  is  a  time  when  tyranni 
cide  is  a  sacred  duty.  I  will  swear  Edith  and  Bella  into  a 
conspiracy  to  depose  you,  if  you  persist  in  driving  the  home 
less  from  your  door." 

"  Very  well,  if  you  can  gain  those  two  powers  I  will  not 
provoke  insurrection." 

"  What  do  you  say,  Edy — what  your  brother  wants  you 
want  ;  isn't  it  so  ?  Faithful  alone  among  the  faithless, 
speak,  and  shame  the  domestic  tyrant." 

Edith,  redoubling  her  caresses,  planted  herself  on  the 
victim's  knee,  and  from  this  vantage-ground  said  : 

"  Do  you  remember  the  story  you  told  me  once  illustrating 
the  charm  of  French  manners  ?  " 

"  I  can't  say  that  I  recall  any  particular  lesson  from  among 
the  innumerable  maxims  I  have  made  it  a  parental  duty  to 
expound  to  you." 

"You  once  said  that  the  incident  of  the  old  Duke  de  la 
Rochefoucauld,  descending  the  stairs  from  a  grand  reception 
and  meeting  a  boyish  young  noble  bounding  up,  should  be 
framed  in  gold  and  hung  in  every  household  where  there 
are  young  people.  The  old  duke  had  descended  four  stairs, 
the  lad,  glittering  in  orders  and  court  braveries,  reached 
the  step  beneath.  Both  stopped.  The  duke,  a  model  of 
last  century  grace  and  politeness,  mindful  of  all  the  little 
elegancies  that  Renan  laments  so  beautifully,  backed  against 
the  wall.  The  boy  backed  against  the  banister,  both  bow 
ing  low.  '  Pass,'  said  the  duke.  '  Never,'  said  the  lad.  '  I 
beg  of  you, 'cried  the  duke.  Then,  as  you  said  in  your  droll 
way,  the  sticklers  might  have  been  there  to  all  time,  like 
Moliere  in  the  presence  of  Louis  XIV.  on  the  wall  at  Ver 
sailles,  if  the  gallant  youth  had  not  been  inspired.  You 
remember  what  he  said  ?  " 

"  What  did  he  say,  traitress  ? " 

"  Bowing  until  his  head  was  on  a  level  with  the  old  duke's 
feet,  he  cried  gallantly,  'It  is  the  duty  of  youth  to  obey,' 
and  passed  up." 


A    TANGLED   WEB.  427 

"  And  this  fable  teaches — " 

"  That  it  is  the  duty  of  this  youth  to  obey  his  mamma, 
who  never  commands  any  thing  she  hasn't  good  reasons 
for,"  and  the  artful  rogue  fell  to  kissing  the  astonished 
youth,  fairly  smothering  his  protests. 

"  I  never  gave  you  credit  for  such  consummate  duplicity," 
he  at  last  rescued  himself  to  say,  as  he  studied  the  demure 
face  with  fretful  surprise.  He  had  never  seen  the  maiden 
fortified  by  such  motives.  The  very  thought  of  Theo  under 
the  roof  from  which  she  had  driven  Trajan  was  enough  to 
inspire  her  to  all  the  arts  of  feminine  resistance,  of  which 
poor  Elliot  little  dreamed.  He  realized  in  a  hazy  sort  of 
way  the  cause  of  the  sudden  inhospitality  of  his  mother  and 
sister  and  dropped  the  point.  He  never  alluded  to  the  sub 
ject  to  Theo,  and  she  was  wise  enough  to  make  no  reference 
to  a  further  sojourn  in  the  place.  It  was  arranged  by  the 
kind-hearted  Mrs.  Grovel  that  La  Baronne  should  share  her 
house  in  Paris  until  the  uncertainties  of  the  campaign  were 
over,  and  presently,  greatly  to  Edith's  relief,  the  Duclos 
chateau  was  closed  and  the  major-domo  of  the  owner  rein 
stalled.  The  prince  took  leave  of  Les  Charmettes  in  state. 

He  was  to  go  to  Paris  to  place  himself  at  the  command  of 
the  government,  for,  as  he  explained,  the  legitimate  monarch 
would  very  soon  reign  in  the  palace  of  his  ancestors.  He 
trusted  to  see  his  new  friends  in  Paris,  and  hinted  that  delay 
would  suit  him  very  well  in  the  alliance  he  had  proposed. 
Bella  bade  her  suitor  adieu  with  good  feeling,  but  not  a  sign 
of  embarrassment  or  emotion.  Theo,  who  was  present, 
owned  that  her  conduct  was  "  perfect,"  that  a  born  princess 
could  not  have  carried  out  her  role  more  charmingly.  And 
the  prince  seemed  very  well  pleased  to  hear  all  this.  He 
was  proud  to  think  that  in  any  event  the  world  could  not 
accuse  him  of  contemplating  a  vulgar  mesalliance. 

Theo's  departure  gave  secret  but  none  the  less  deep  joy 
to  three  members  of  the  household  at  Les  Charmettes.  Kate 
sinfully  ejaculated  a  devout  thanksgiving  that  Jezebel  had 


428  TRAJAN. 

gone  before  doing  more  mischief,  as  she  stood  at  the  upper 
window  where  Edith,  equally  delighted,  but  less  emphatic, 
ran  up  to  confide  her  satisfaction. 

"  But,  Kate  dear,  if  my  poor  Elliot  should  persist  and 
marry — oh,  what  should  we  do  ?  I  could  never  even  see  her 
without  a  nervous  spasm.  She  affects  me  like — like — I  don't 
know  what,"  she  added,  repenting  the  harsh  word  that  came 
to  her  tongue.  , 

"Why  don't  you  out  with  it  and  say  what  ye  mean.  It's 
just  a  snake  and  nothing  else,"  her  wrath  throwing  Kate's 
vowels  into  their  Scotch  broadness.  "Ye  need  have  na  fear 
o'  th'  lad  goin'  that  length.  Tho'  there's  nofrecklike  a  lad's 
folly  when  a  hussy  o'  th'  like  o'  that's  at  his  chin  to  wheedle 
th'  teeth  out  of  his  head.  But  I've  a  way  of  loos'nin'  Jeze 
bel's  grip,  and  ye  need  give  yersel'  no  fear.  I've  ta'n  the 
measure  o'  that  un,"  she  added  with  a  grim  smile,  "and  I'll 
lay  my  head  to  a  wraith's  kirtle  that  I  beat  her  where  she 
counts  on  shearing  the  thickest  wool." 

"  Kate,  you're  a  dreadful  creature.  What  do  you  mean 
by  such  uncanny  hints  and  vows  ?  I  declare  I'm  afraid  of 
you,"  and  womanlike,  to  prove  it,  she  wound  her  arms  around 
the  spinster's  neck  and  hugged  her  with  vehemence. 

"  Ye're  a  puir  witless  bairn  yersel',"  was  the  reward,  given 
'with  placid  resignation  by  the  wicked  plotter,  "  or  ye'd  never 
let  the  boy  fall  intil  her  claws.  But  ye  may  mend  all  now 
by  doin'  as  I  tell  ye  and  mindin'  what  I  say." 

"I'm  your  slave,  your  Friday,  your  lamp — rub  me  and  all 
you  dream  shall  come  to  pass." 

"  It  isn't  dreams  I  want,  it's  facts,  and  you  must  get  them 
and  ask  me  no  questions.  Here's  what  ye'll  have  to  do.  Bring 
me  th'  lists  o'  stocks,  funds  and  all  sorts  of  investments  that 
yer  faether  left  yer  brither's  fortune  in.  Get  at  th'  same 
time  a  statement  of  Bella's.  Get  me  the  whole  with  the 
addresses  and  th'  like,  and  never  open  ye'r  mouth  til  ony- 
body.  Now  ask  me  no  questions,"  she  added,  fondling  the 
blonde  head,  as  the  large  eyes  presaged  the  volley  of 


A    TANGLED    WEB.  429 

questions  these  extraordinary  interrogatories  suggested. 
"  Give  me  all  these  facts  within  three  days,  and  I'll  play  the 
bagpipes  at  Jezebel's  marriage  and  dance,  into  the  bargain," 
with  which  confusing  sentiment  she  brought  the  cabal  to  a 
close. 

On  the  very  afternoon  of  Theo's  departure  who  should 
come  walking  in,  bringing  a  shock  of  electric  joy,  but  the 
warrior  Philip.  He  had  been  taken  to  Heidelberg,  and  in 
his  quality  of  American,  had  been  treated  with  lenity.  Gen 
eral  Kamecke,  the  real  leader  of  the  army,  supposed  to  be 
commanded  by  prince  Fritz,  had  been  appealed  to  by  letter. 
He  knew  Philip  and  permission  had  been  given  him  to  retire  as 
anon-combatant,  with  a  hint  that  further  participation  on  the 
French  side  would  subject  him  to  disagreeable  consequences. 
He  considered  himself  on  parole  and  would  so  write  to  his 
friend  Vinoy.  His  wound  had  not  been  severe — the  blow 
of  a  clubbed  musket  on  the  shoulder  and  neck.  He  had 
returned  through  Belgium  and  found  no  difficulty  in  getting 
to  Crecy.  He  would  not  dare  remain  there  himself,  for  the 
Germans  were  within  march  of  it  that  very  day. 

Elliot  ridiculed  all  idea  of  danger,  but  it  was  agreed  that  if 
the  place  was  likely  to  be  long  within  the  invading  lines  the 
family  would  be  better  off  in  England.  Towards  dark  the 
cousins  sauntered  down  to  the  village  to  read  the  war  bulletins, 
for  there  were  no  longer  any  journals  distributed  from  Paris. 
In  the  pretty  town  the  frightened  people  had  been  in  a  fever 
for  weeks.  The  first  stunning  blow,  a  month  or  six  weeks 
before,  found  them  with  every  thing  prepared  for  a  grand 
celebration  of  the  passage  of  the  Rhine  and  a  decisive 
defeat  of  the  king's  armies  in  the  Palatinate.  The  garlands, 
tarnished  and  withered,  had  been  thrown  aside  and 
the  little  spasm  over  the  founding  of  the  Republic  two  weeks 
before  had  been  celebrated  in  decorous  acclamation — nobody 
imagining  that  a  government  born  in  such  a  tumult  was  to 
continue,  and  in  the  future  avenge  by  years  of  peace,  good 
order,  and  wisdom  the  humiliation  through  which  alone  it 


43°  TRAJAN. 

had  been  made  possible.  It  was  the  i5th  of  September,  and 
the  terrified  populace  stood  mute  before  the  curt  phrase 
which  announced  the  arrival  of  the  Prussians  before  the 
Northern  outposts  of  Paris.  King  William  and  the  head 
quarters  were  at  Meaux,  only  ten  miles  distant.  The  Uhlans 
had  been  seen  near  Crecy  early  in  the  day  and  the  maire 
had  sent  out  a  delegation  to  secure  a  peaceful  occupation  of 
the  town.  The  shops  were  closed.  All  the  residents  with 
available  means  had  quit  the  town,  leaving  the  maire  guar 
dian  of  their  property.  Every  body  understood,  that  the 
Prussians  were  cruel,  rapacious,  and  revengeful  in  the  occu 
pation  of  the  defenseless  towns.  But  some  one  must  stay, 
and  the  unfortunates  having  buried  all  portable  values 
awaited  the  despoilers  in  speechless  terror.  As  the  advent 
of  the  invaders  had  been  the  subject  of  discussion  at  Les 
Charmettes,  and  it  had  been  decided  that  their  occupation 
of  this  obscure  corner  would  be  but  temporary,  it  had  been 
decided  to  remain.  The  young  men  were  curious  to  see  the 
famous  conquerors  of  Sadowa  and  Sedan,  and  an  hour 
later,  a  company  was  installed  in  Les  Charmettes.  Philip 
was  in  a  fever  of  apprehension  as  he  saw  Elliot's  anger 
sternly  flaming  in  his  eyes  as  the  Prussians  made  themselves 
masters  of  the  treasures  of  the  chateau.  He  could  have 
borne  this,  had  the  captain  been  content  with  mere  pillage, 
but  when  in  tipsy  arrogance  the  German  commanded  the 
appearance  of  the  ladies,  Elliot  could  contain  himself  no 
longer,  and  stigmatizing  the  Herr  Baron  and  captain  of 
Uhlans  as  a  coward  and  robber,  the  young  man  was 
promptly  sent  under  guard  to  Meaux,  to  answer  the  serious 
offense  of  spy  and  insulter  of  Prussian  majesty. 


A  MISSION  TO   THE  KING.  43  * 

CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

A    MISSION    TO    THE    KING. 

O  EFORE  leaving  Paris  Trajan  learned  through  the  English 
D  journals  that  the  German  headquarters  were  at  Reims 
on  the  1 2th,  but  were  to  advance  to  Meaux  in  the  wake  of 
the  army  then  pushing  on  through  Chalons  and  Chateau 
Thierry,  where  the  last  feeble  efforts  of  the  Mobiles  had  not 
checked  the  advance  an  instant.  Trajan  arrived  in  Meaux,  a 
town  with  which  he  was  very  familiar,  as  it  is  the  center  of 
the  pretty  country  in  which  the  Beaux  Arts  students  are 
sent  to  study  landscape.  The  city  is  thirty  miles  in  an  air 
line  from  Paris.  He  reached  the  town  on  the  morning  of  the 
1 2th,  and  though  headquarters  had  not  yet  arrived,  the 
king  was  expected  at  noon.  He  had  picked  his  way  through 
the  Prussian  videttes  and,  to  prevent  trouble  in  case  of  cap 
ture,  had  somewhat  changed  his  appearance.  His  flowing 
hair  was  cropped  short,  as  much  for  convenience  and  clean 
liness  as  disguise,  and  he  wore  an  English  suit  of  loud 
checked  stripes.  It  would  have  been  difficult  for  any  one 
but  an  acquaintance  to  recognize  him.  He  was  not  sanguine 
of  the  success  of  the  mission  Tavre  had  set  such  store  on, 
which  was  nothing  less  than  peace,  purchased  by  an  alliance 
with  Prussia  with  the  sole  condition  of  territorial  integrity 
for  the  Republic  and  any  indemnity  the  conqueror  saw  fit  to 
exact  in  mon£y.  He  secured  lodgings  in  a  quiet  street 
where  he  had  lodged  years  before  and  waited  patiently 
for  the  formidable  business  he  had  in  hand — formidable, 
because  he  realized  that  in  the  event  of  failure  or  dis 
aster,  he  was  to  be  sacrificed  by  a  prompt  disavowal,  as 
Favre  had  frankly  told  him.  But  his  thoughts  were  far  from 
his  mission. 

In  a  direct  line,  Somebody,  from  whom  he  had  not  heard 
for  a  month — was  but  eight  miles  from  him,  and  there  came 


432  TRAJAN. 

moments  of  maddening  impulse  to  desert  his  duty  and  fly  to 
her  presence,  if  only  for  the  rapturous  instant  of  an 
embrace.  The  house  next  him  was  occupied  by  a  provost 
corps  of  Saxons,  who  guarded  such  non-military  prisoners 
as  were  detained  for  examination  or  transportation  to  Ger 
man  prisons.  He  knew  the  Saxons  very  well.  He  had  lived 
among  them  in  Dresden,  and  in  foot  tours  in  the  Saxon 
Switzerland,  as  the  beautiful  region  of  the  Saxon  upper  Elbe 
is  called,  he  had  made  many  warm  friendships  among  that 
honest  and  friendly  race.  The  lieutenant  of  the  guard  had 
been  in  the  Polytechnic  in  Dresden,  and  after  a  bit  Trajan 
found  that  they  had  many  friends  in  common. 

Some  of  them,  he  learned,  had  gone  to  America  to  escape 
the  war,  which  was  not  entered  upon  enthusiastically  at  first 
by  the  proud  little  kingdom,  which  hates  the  Prussians  with  a 
hearty  hatred.  The  honest  lieutenant  confided  to  his 
American  friend  that  he,  too,  intended  to  quit  the  fatherland 
for  America,  where  the  family  of  his  sweetheart  had  gone 
the  year  before  and  was  settled  in  Milwaukee — about  which 
he  was  eager  to  hear  all  that  Trajan  knew.  His  eyes 
sparkled  at  the  description  of  the  stately  metropolis  of  Wis 
consin,  and  nothing  would  satisfy  him  but  copious  potations 
of  Strasbourg  beer  in  the  neighboring  cabaret.  Trajan 
was  not  at  all  unresponsive  to  the  advances  of  the  guileless 
lieutenant,  as  he  reflected  that  he  might  prove  of  use  to 
him  in  the  emergencies  that  might  arise.  At  five  o'clock,  as 
he  was  discussing  poetry  in  the  English  tongue,  which  his 
friend  besought  him  to  employ,  as  he  wanted  to  be  ready  to 
speak  when  he  rejoined  his  "  Schatz  in  Amerika  "  there  was 
a  great  clatter  in  the  main  street  leading  to  Bossuet's  palace. 

They  set  out  to  see  what  it  meant.  Rousing  cheers  filled 
the  whole  town.  The  king  was  driving  down  the  street 
under  the  double  rows  of  chestnuts  to  the  palace.  "  Hoch 
hack's  "  in  every  cadence  accompanied  the  cortege  as  the 
royal  -traveling  carriage,  preceded  and  followed  by  a  retinue 
as  large  as  a  regiment,  whirled  swiftly  by,  Neither  Bismarck 


A  MISSION  TO  THE  KING.  433 

nor  Moltke  formed  part  of  the  train.  The  latter  had  ridden 
forward  by  another  route  through  the  city  and  taken  up  his 
quarters  in  the  commandant's  house.  Bismarck  had  driven 
straight  to  the  residence  of  the  Count  de  la  Malte  in  the  Rue 
Tronchon,  not  a  stone's  throw  from  Trajan's  lodging. 

As  the  chancellor  would  probably  be  fatigued,  Trajan  simply 
wrote  a  note  outlining  the  purpose  of  his  visit,  and  begging 
to  know  when  it  would  be  convenient  for  the  count  to  admit 
him.  To  his  no  small  surprise  a  messenger  was  with  him  in 
twenty  minutes,  and  he  was  conducted  to  the  statesman's 
presence.  Bismarck  was  in  undress — with  the  short  frock 
of  the  trooper,  and  high  military  boots,  but  without  arms. 

Two  secretaries  were  busy  at  a  table  piled  with  newspapers. 
Busch,  the  factotum,  was  reading  aloud  a  leader  from  the 
London  Times  counseling  the  conquerors  to  forbearance 
and  hinting  England's  interest  in  a  cessation  of  the  conflict. 
As  Trajan  entered  the  reading  did  not  come  to  an  end,  but 
the  secretaries  went  on  impassively,  apparently  indifferent 
to  the  new  comer.  Bismarck,  turning  from  the  table  where 
a  bottle  of  champagne  stood  in  a  silver  cooler  and  a  glass  of 
mixed  beer  and  wine  remained  half  empty,  scrutinized  the 
young  man — then  looked  puzzled  as  if  striving  to  recollect 
something  which  evaded  him.  Nodding  to  the  reader  to 
.cease,  he  turned  to  Trajan  and  said  curtly  : 

"  You  are  from  those  people  who  think  they  govern  France 
— the  Republican  chaps,"  he  said  with  a  half-curious,  half- 
contemptuous  interest.  "  When  I  saw  you  last  you  were 
from  the  gentleman  at  Sedan.  Isn't  it  so  ?  " 

Trajan  colored  ;  he  had  hoped  that  the  inscrutable  poten 
tate  of  the  world's  destinies  would  have  forgotten  his  face. 
He  was  not,  however,  embarrassed.  He  replied  deferent 
ially,  but  firmly  : 

"  Your  excellency  will  remember  that  I  then  told  you  I 
came  to  you  as  a  Republican,  and  merely  carried  you  a  mes 
sage  which  the  then  sovereign  of  France  dared  not  confide 
to  any  of  his  own  subjects.  I  was  also  instructed  to  ask 


434  TRAJAN. 

your  excellency  if  a  Republican  government  might  hope  to 
make  terms  ;  in  which  event,  as  I  understood,  Bonaparte  was 
willing  to  abdicate  and  withdraw.  I  now  come  to  ask  your 
excellency  if,  having  achieved  your  purpose  and  driven 
Bonaparte  out,  you  are  willing  to  make  peace  and  an  alliance 
with  the  Republic.  If  you  are  so  disposed.  I  am  directed  to 
send  a  verbal  message  to  Paris  by  a  French  citizen  and  await 
Minister  Favre,  who  will  have  the  honor  of  laying  the  whole 
matter  before  you." 

"  Why  such  roundabout  proceedings  ?  Why  send  a — a — 
stranger  like  you  on  such  business  ?  Why  no  credentials  ? 
this  is  simply  preposterous  !  How  do  I  know  you  are  not  a 
spy  ?  "  asked  the  chancellor,  shading  his  eye  with  his  hand, 
as  he  set  down  the  replenished  glass  which  he  had  gulped 
at  a  draught. 

"  If  your  excellency  will  permit  me,  I  will  answer  each 
question  in  order.  This  informal  method  of  preliminary  was 
adopted  by  Minister  Favre  because  a  suspicion  in  Paris  that 
he  even  meditated  treating  would  not  only  ruin  him  but 
involve  the  government.  I  was  selected,  because  Gambetta, 
whom  I  know  very  well  and  have  known  for  some  years, 
recommended  me  as  likely  to  be  more  easily  disavowed  than 
a  Frenchman,  who  would  of  course  stand  in  peril  of  his  life, 
while  as  for  me,  I  return  to  my  own  country  when  my  studies 
are  ended.  Your  excellency  knows  I  am  not  a  spy,  because 
my  passport  shows  I  am  American,  and  there  would  be 
little  gained  by  spying  an  army  that  outnumbers  its 
adversaries  six  to  one,  yes,  ten  to  one.  I  can  readily 
understand  that  your  excellency,  accustomed  to  see  national 
affairs  entrusted  to  those  only  who  hold  titles,  finds  it  diffi 
cult  to  comprehend  that  a  great  people  ruling  themselves, 
make  use  of  the  first  available  instrument  that  comes  to 
hand." 

The  big  chancellor,  having  swallowed  another  bumper  of 
beer  and  champagne,  emitted  a  sort  of  satisfied  grunt,  as  he 
said  dryly  : 


A  MISSION  TO  THE  KING.  435 

"  Ah, — your  Republics  never  lack  instruments — that  I 
own,  they  only  lack  sense.  Upon  my  soul,  I  avow  I  am 
puzzled  by  this  new  freak  in  diplomacy.  I  can  give  you  no 
answer  now.  I  will  see  you  again  in  the  morning  ;  Doctor," 
he  added,  turning  to  the  spectacled  hedge-hog  scratching 
away  at  the  desk,  "  accompany  this— gentleman — "  The  con 
versation  had  been  carried  on  in  French,  Trajan  not  wish 
ing  to  reveal  his  familiarity  with  German.  "Accompany 
this  gentleman  to  his  lodging  and  let  him  lay  all  the  matter 
he  has  in  hand  before  you,  that  you  may  make  a  memoran 
dum  for  the  king." 

Trajan  was  greatly  perplexed  by  this  maneuver.  He  had 
no  idea  of  stating  more  to  Busch  than  he  had  already  outlined  to 
the  chancellor.  The  garrulous  Saxon,  however,  relieved  him  of 
all  embarrassment.  He  grew  amazingly  communicative  by 
the  time  he  reached  the  young  man's  apartment.  Trajan, 
with  dim  notions  of  the  feints  and  falsehoods  of  diplomacy, 
was  at  a  loss  to  penetrate  the  purpose  of  all  this  garrulity. 
Busch  adored  Bismarck.  His  idolatry  was  the  joke  of  the 
headquarters.  Caricatures  of  the  supple  Bozzy  were  already 
circulated  in  the  army.  It  was  about  this  stage  of  the  cam 
paign  that  the  famous  feud  between  the  princes  and  Bis 
marck  arose. 

The  king's  familiars,  all  of  them  princes  or  person 
ages  of  higher  rank,  resented  the  prominence  given  Bis 
marck's  name  in  the  glories  of  Prussia.  They  began  stu 
diously  to  ignore  him  ;  they  prevailed  on  the  king  to  establish 
the  same  rule  in  diplomacy  that  existed  in  the  army, 
namely,  that  the  royal  mind  alone,  or  a  delegated  prince, 
regulated  the  diplomacy  of  the  kingdom.  Bismarck  should 
be  conceded  the  same  relative  rank  as  Von  Moltke,  Stein- 
metz,  Von  Blumenthal,  Kamecke,  Manteuffel  and  others,  who 
though  really  commanding  the  armies,  devising  and  ordering 
every  detail,  were  known  to  the  world  simply  as  adjutants, 
chiefs  of  staff  and  the  like.  To  Trajan's  immeasurable 
astonishment,  Busch  made  him  the  confidant  of  all  this  court 


436  TRAJAN. 

heartburning,  declaring  that  his  venerated  chief,  as  he  called 
Bismarck,  was  half  resolved  to  throw  up  his  anomalous  post 
and  retire  to  his  estates,  to  teach  these  meddlesome  interlop 
ers  that  he  and  not  the  king  or  princes  was  the  inspiring 
source  of  all  Prussian  greatness.  The  genial  old  gossip,  who 
for  some  reason  took  Trajan  for  an  English  correspondent, 
hinted  the  benefit  to  the  fatherland  of  making  the  situation 
known  delicately  in  the  English  press,  whence  being  copied 
back  into  the  German  organs  of  public  opinion,  the  foolish 
old  king  would  see  that  Bismarck  could  not  be  overshadowed 
like  Von  Moltke,  who  didn't  care  a  groschen  who  got  the 
credit,  so  that  he  was  permitted  to  carry  out  his  work  unmo 
lested. 

The  talk  was  a  riddle  to  the  diplomatic  neophyte,  and 
I  am  afraid  the  disingenuous  devotee  of  Bismarck  thought 
the  young  fellow  uncommonly  dull  and  unenterprising.  In 
hints  not  half  so  tangible  he  was  accustomed  to  inspiring 
rhapsodies  volumes  in  length  in  the  home  and  American 
journals.  He  left  the  young  man  after  an  hour  and  a  half 
of  this  sprightly  mystifying,  and  it  was  only  two  days  later 
when  the  London  journals  reached  headquarters  that  Trajan 
imagined  he  had  the  clue.  It  was  stated  there,  in  the  well- 
known  phraseology  dictated  by  Bismarck,  that  "  a  man  had 
arrived  at  Meaux  from  Paris,  bearing  a  flag  of  truce. 

"  The  chancellor's  secretary  was  sent  out  to  communicate 
with  him,  and  found  a  thin,  dark-haired  young  fellow  standing 
in  the  court  of  the  chancellor's  house.  From  his  talk  it  was 
learned  that  he  was  an  Englishman."  Trajan  breathed  freely 
at  the  last  sentence.  If  the  journal  should  reach  Paris, 
the  paragraph  was  too  vague  to  excite  suspicion,  or  if  it  did, 
to  identify  him  with  the  truce-bearer.  He  spent  the  evening 
with  his  friend,  the  lieutenant  of  the  provost,  after  Busch's 
departure,  who  announced  to  him  that  a  dangerous  French 
spy  had  been  brought  in  from  the  outposts.  He  had  been 
sent  from  Paris  early  in  the  campaign  to  assassinate  Bis 
marck,  and  two  or  three  times  the  German  army  detectives 


A  MISSION  TO  THE  KING.  437 

had  fallen  upon  his  tracks.  There  had  been  four  attempts  to 
assassinate  Bismarck  since  the  campaign  opened,  and  now  he 
never  stirred  without  a  guard  of  detectives  in  military  uni 
form. 

Trajan  was  diverted,  but  not  interested,  by  the  gossip 
of  the  lieutenant.  He  was  thinking  of  a  noble  mansion  to 
the  south  of  him  a  few  miles,  and  wondering  how  it  was  far 
ing  with  the  kind  friends  he  had  left  there,  and  what  a  little 
maiden  was  doing  with  a  part  of  himSelf  that  he  had  left 
with  her  and  never  cared  to  get  back.  All  the  next  morning 
he  waited  an  intimation  from  Busch  that  the  chancellor  had 
come  to  a  conclusion.  Toward  noon  he  sauntered  into  the 
promenade  filled  with  loitering  soldiers  and  townfolk.  It 
was  a  day  of  perfect  autumn  weather.  The  purple  sweeps  of 
the  Marne  spread  in  roseate  mirage  to  the  dim  canopy  of 
smoke  that  defined  the  site  of  the  German  goal,  Paris.  The 
streets  were  full  of  the  stirring  life  of  the  camp.  A  great  blare 
of  trumpets  announced  from  time  to  time  the  arrival  at  the 
palace  gates  beyond  of  a  prince  or  potentate  coming  to  do 
homage  to  the  aged  conqueror,  housed  in  the  charming  pal 
ace  where  Bishop  Bossuet  wrote  those  famous  homilies 
that  moved  the  well-beloved  Louis  from  frivolity  or  wanton 
ness. 

Bismarck  appeared,  sitting  his  charger  like  the  god  of 
war,  and  loud  were  the  hoch  hoctis  as  he  passed,  absently 
gazing  at  the  spectacle.  Trajan's  eyes  casually  fell  upon  a 
carriage  driven  slowly  towards  him.  Beside  the  driver  sat  a 
soldier  in  Prussian  uniform — dark  blue  and  yellow  facings, 
in  this  instance.  The  vehicle  had  a  singularly  familiar  look. 
Yes,  could  he  believe  his  eyes  ?  There  was  Bernard,  Mrs. 
Arden's  coachman.  In  the  over-mastering  delight  of  the 
moment,  he  started  up  and  in  two  minutes  stood  beside  the 
carriage.  Bernard  stopped  the  horses,  without  waiting  to  be 
told.  As  he  did  so,  Mrs.  Arden,  agitated  and  anxious,  looked 
out  where  Trajan  stood  but  did  not  recognize  him,  as  she 
asked  the  coachman  why  he  halted. 


43$  TRAJAN. 

"  Mrs.  Arden,  don't  you  know  me  ?  " 

Her  glance  had  not  rested  on  him  an  instant,  but  so  soon 
as  he  spoke  a  joyous  smile  of  recognition  and  relief  drove 
away  the  look  of  subdued  anguish.  She  held  out  her  hand 
with  impulsive  joy,  mingled  with  thanksgiving,  and  said 
fervently  : 

"  I  never  saw  a  human  face  with  more  delight  than  yours, 
Mr.  Gray. — Trajan,  we're  in  miserable  distress.  Elliot  was 
arrested  last  night  as  a  spy.  He  was  lodged  at  Crecy,  we 
were  told  by  a  dreadful  officer  who  made  Les  Charmettes  his 
headquarters,  until  this  morning,  when  he  marched  away. 
We  were  not  permitted  to  leave  our  rooms  until  the  ruffian 
left.  On  going  to  the  guard  left  in  Crecy  we  learned  that 
Elliot  had  been  sent  here — now  can  you  help  us  ?  I  know 
there's  nothing  you  can't  do — for  I've  heard  of  your  adven 
tures  at  Metz  and  Sedan." 

Now,  madame,  or  sir,  as  the  case  may  be,  if  you  are 
interested  in  the  doings  of  the  absurd  Trajan,  figure  the 
scene  to  yourself  !  The  carriage  had  drawn  in  to  the  outer 
edge  of  the  grass  plat  that  makes  a  quadruple  roadway 
along  the  Boulevard  Bossuet.  The  stickler  for  topographi 
cal  exactness  may  stand  on  the  very  spot,  the  next  time  he 
or  she  is  in  Meaux  visiting  the  good  bishop's  souvenirs,  by 
halting  at  the  round  turn  where  the  Rue  Bossuet  enters  the 
boulevard,  debouching  from  the  cathedral  and  palace. 
Under  the  leafy  recesses  the  carriage  drew  up,  and  while 
Mrs.  Arden  failed  to  recognize  Trajan,  I  am  ashamed  to 
say  that  he  was  quite  oblivious  of  her  presence,  for  there 
was  a  little  scream,  ever  so  soft  and  startled  ;  a  quick 
gleam  of  passing  gold  from  the  back  seat  to  the  front,  as 
"  Somebody  "  flew  to  the  window  facing  mamma  and  thrust 
out  the  most  bewitching  hand  that  ever  was  seen,  though  it 
trembled  like  a  poor  little  bird.  It  was  probably  to  stay 
its  trembling  that  the  staring  young  man,  listening  to  the 
mother  and  devouring  the  daughter,  retained  it  in  his  two 
tenacious  fists,  quite  as  a  matter  of  course  and  unconscious 


A  MISSION  TO   THE  KING.  439 

of  the  curious  and  admiring  glances  of  the  soldiers  who  had 
also  caught  sight  of  the  flash  of  gold. 

A  second  later  Trajan  was  in  the  carnage,  seated  next  to 
the  golden-haired  and  listening  the  more  intently — because 
of  a  divided  mind — to  the  particulars  of  the  mishaps  at  Les 
Charmettes.  Elliot's  conduct  he  comprehended  perfectly. 
Generous,  impetuous,  ignorant  of  the  absolute  lawlessness 
and  unaccountability  of  men  and  officers  in  war,  he  could 
understand  how  he  had  indulged  in  the  folly  of  resenting  the 
German's  brutality.  He  did  not  believe  that  Mrs.  Arden 
could  do  any  thing  with  the  headquarters  people,  without 
appealing  to  the  American  minister,  who  stood  well  with 
Bismarck,  and  was  entrusted  with  the  interests  of  German 
citizens  in  France  during  the  war.  The  utmost  to  be  hoped 
would  be  a  safe  conduct  for  the  family  to  Paris,  as  it  was 
manifest  that  Crecy  was  no  longer  a  refuge,  subject  as  it  was 
to  daily  incursions  of  the  sort  that  had  caused  the 
catastrophe. 

"  But  come  to  my  hotel  and  we  will  advise  over  the  matter." 
So  to  the  trim  little  inn  the  three  went,  the  soldier  remain 
ing  rigidly  on  duty1— as  he  had  been  ordered  to  take  orders 
concerning  the  ladies,  only  from  superiors  at  headquarters. 
He  showed  Trajan  his  written  authority — which  said  simply: 
"  Pass  the  bearer  through  all  posts  of  the  Marne,  until  2oth 
September."  Trajan  took  care  to  have  the  man  well 
bestowed,  himself  stopping  to  drink  briiderschaft  in  a  big 
pot  of  beer,  while  the  ladies  were  removing  their  wraps. 
Somehow  the  trouble  seemed  a  small  matter  as  it  was  retold 
to  Trajan.  He  listened  with  such  a  dreamy  air  of  serenity, 
that  the  tears  which  had  glistened  in  Mrs.  Arden's  kind  eyes 
dissolved  insensibly.  While,  as  for  Edith,  a  stranger  would 
have  accused  her  of  an  indifference  verging  on  inhumanity 
as  to  the  fate  of  her  brother. 

When  every  thing  had  been  told,  Trajan  said  tranquilly, 
"  It  would  be  wrong  to  deceive  you  as  to  Elliot's  peril,  but 
it  is  not  beyond  remedy.  I  have  a  suspicion  that  the  poor 


440  TRAJAN. 

fellow  is  in  the  next  house  to  my  lodgings,  which  has  been, 
since  the  Germans  came,  the  prison  of  the  provost  guard, 
where  political  culprits  are  detained,  until  sent  to  Germany." 

He  then  related  the  conversation  of  the  lieutenant, 
and  Mrs.  Arden  agreed  that  the  circumstances  tallied 
with  the  event.  "  Now,"  continued  Trajan,  "  we  have 
but  small  choice  of  alternatives.  I  am  to  see  Bismarck, 
I  don't  know  what  moment.  I  will  lay  the  case  before  him 
and  learn  what  he  advises,  for  you  know  that  a  procedure 
once  begun  in  a  Prussian  court  or  camp,  no  power,  not  even 
the  king,  can  arrest  it.  I  will  meanwhile  write  out  your  nar 
rative,  which  I  am  sorry  to  say  is  of  little  value  without 
Philip  as  witness  to  attest  it.  1  will  write  it  out  all  the 
same,  with  a  statement  of  my  own  vouching  for  Elliot's 
guiltlessness  of  the  charge  of  spying.  This  done,  we  must 
trust  in  Providence."  But  he  was  not  destined  to  act  as 
Mrs.  Arden's  amanuensis.  He  had  barely  sat  down  to  his 
work,  in  which  he  seemed  to  be  helplessly  dependent  upon 
the  services  of  Edith  in  divers  silly  details,  when  a  mes 
senger  whom  he  recognized  as  Busch's,  saluting  with  stiff 
precision  said  : 

"  Herr  Doctor  Busch  wishes  you  to  attend  at  the  Count's 
Bureau  at  once." 

"  You  must  write  out  the  facts,  and  if  I  can  I  will 
send  for  them,  in  case  there  seems  to  be  time  enough  for 
you  to  have  "written  them.  What  a  misfortune  that  we  didn't 
do  that  first — for  papers  have  poor  chance  at  headquarters 
in  war,  when  the  fever  of  battle  makes  even  the  most  rigid 
officers  indifferent  to  routine."  Busch  received  the  impro 
vised  diplomate  at  the  door,  whispering  confidentially  : 

"  The  chief  is  in  superb  humor,  he  has  just  seen  Favre's 
announcemept  to  foreign  courts  of  the  attitude  of  the 
Republic,  and  he  will  incline  to  treat,  but  you  must  have 
no  reserves." 

All  this  was  incomprehensible  to  Trajan,  who  had  no  idea 
that  he  was  distrusted  by  Bismarck,  who  had  been  unable  to 


A  MISSION  TO  THE  KING.  441 

believe  such  an  envoy  real.  But  as  he  afterward  learned, 
Favre,  not  less  ruse  than  his  antagonist,  had  taken  precau 
tion  soon  after  Trajan's  departure  to  apprise  Bismarck 
through  the  American  minister  that  the  man  arriving  at 
Meaux  on  the  i5th  might  be  trusted.  It  was  that  message 
that  gained  the  envoy  his  second  interview,  and  a  markedly 
more  considerate  treatment.  Bismarck,  who  seemed  fond 
of  costumes  as  a  subaltern  in  a  garrison  town,  was  resplend 
ent  in  the  white  uniform  of  the  cuirassiers.  He  had  substi 
tuted  cigars  for  champagne,  and  a  mass  of  volumes  whose 
place  was  marked  by  gaps  in  the  Count  de  la  Malte's 
shelves,  indicated  that  war  and  statecraft  did  not  wholly 
occupy  that  colossal  mind.  He  held  in  his  hand  as  Trajan 
neared  him,  a  thick  volume,  whose  title,  conspicuous  on  the 
back,  struck  the  visitor  with  surprise  :  "  Daily  watchwords 
and  texts  of  the  Moravian  Brethren"  while  open  on  the 
table,  with  a  penknife  as  a  mark  lay,  "  Daily  Refreshment, 
for  Believing  Christians."  The  incident  struck  the  young 
man  with  a  thrill  of  loathing  that  he  feared  would  appear  in 
his  face. 

"  This  arch  hypocrite,"  as  he  wrote  afterward,  "  who 
uses  truth  as  another  uses  falsehood,  whose  youth  had 
been  one  prolonged,  brutal  debauch,  whose  political  primacy 
had  been  won  by  the  denial  of  every  right  of  the  people, 
whose  policy  was  honey-combed  with  such  craft  as  the  first 
Bonaparte  himself  would  have  shrunk  from  ;  this  minister 
who  had  never  kept  an  oath,  this  diplomate  who  had  never 
kept  faith  ;  this  man  who  had  never  shrunk  from  treachery 
public  or  private,  sat  calmly  before  him,  with  works  of  relig 
ion  spread  out  to  make  the  credulous  believe  that  there  was 
some  groundwork  of  morality  in  his  cynical  depravity." 

These  reflections  could,  of  course,  only  occur  to  a  wild 
young  visionary  like  Trajan,  fascinated  by  the  old-fashioned 
theories  that  rule  men  and  women — but  they  were,  I  fear, 
written  on  his  face  distinctly,  for  the  chancellor  suddenly 
catching  the  young  man's  eye,  actually  changed  color — if  a 


44 2  TRAJAN. 

front  of  bronze  can  change  color,  and  said  with  an  impera 
tive  ratchety  growl  : 

"  You  may  say  to  Favre  that  the  king  authorizes  me  to 
receive  his  propositions.  A  flag  of  truce  goes  in  at  mid 
night,  to-morrow  ;  you  can  send  your  messenger  with  the 
party.  A  safe  conduct  will  be  supplied  you."  Saying  this 
he  turned  to  mark  the  interview  at  an  end,  and  resumed  the 
religious  works  cast  aside  for  the  moment,  as  if  to  reprove 
the  skeptic  for  doubting  the  sincerity  of  his  occupation.  But 
for  Trajan,  there  was  another  clause  in  the  protocol,  that  to 
him  far  outweighed  the  Republic,  I'm  forced  to  own,  for  I 
should  like  to  make  the  young  man  appear  consistent,  a  sort 
of  ideal  Brutus,  willing,  nay  anxious,  to  immolate  his  affec 
tions  and  other  objects  to  the  cause  of  universal  ameliora 
tion,  embodied  in  the  beatitudes  of  his  non-militant  social 
ism.  His  voice  trembled  a  little  as  he  asked  his  excel 
lency's  permission  to  call  his  attention  to  a  very  grave 
complication  in  the  rights  of  neutrals. 

"  What — Pottstousand)  you  give  yourself  the  airs  of  an 
accredited  ambassador — Donnerwetter,  but  this  is  as  good 
as  a  play  of  Lessing.  Ach — ac/i,"  and  the  big  warrior, 
ignoring  the  role  of  devotee  he  had  been  posing  in,  burst 
into  a  shout  of  not  wholly  hilarious  laughter — pausing 
capriciously  as  you  have  seen  a  mastiff  baying  at  a  tantaliz 
ing  enemy  and  breaking  into  suppressed  growl  and  whine — 
he  said  with  mock  ceremony:  "  Eh  bien — monsieur  ram- 
bassadeur — give  yourself  the  trouble  to  acquaint  us  of  the 
fonds  of  your  inclination,  and  believe  in  our  benevolent 
disposition  to  comply  with  your  demand,"  and  he  leaned 
back  in  the  large  arm-chair  choking  with  his  own  facetious- 
ness.  But  as  Trajan  modestly  and  succinctly  narrated  the 
outrage  at  Les  Charmettes  and  wound  up  by  a  respectful  and 
eloquent  plea  to  the  chancellor  to  remember  that  the  vic 
tims  were  the  countrymen  of  the  minister,  who  at  the 
expense  of  much  obloquy  and  the  risk  of  a  good  deal  more 
than  mere  discomfort,  was  protecting  oppressed  Germans  in 


A  MISSION  TO  THE  KING.  443 

Paris,  the   early  scorn  and  malevolent   humor  disappeared 
from  the  strong  and  inspiring  face. 

"  This  is  all  true  ?  "  he  asked,  rising  and  walking  the  floor 
in  very  real  perturbation. 

"  Yes,  your  excellency,  if  you  will  deign  to  send  for  the 
mother  and  sister  of  the  young  man  they  will  repeat  it 
to  you." 

"  But  they  were  not  present,  you  tell  me,  at  the  en 
counter?  " 

"  No,  your  excellency." 

"  Then  to  see  them  will  be  but  wasting  time.  Where  is 
the  cousin,  the  young  man  ?  If  you  can  produce  him  the 
affair  may  be  adjusted — otherwise  the  king  himself  can  not 
stop  the  proceedings." 

"  I'm  afraid  the  young  man  has  fled  to  Paris  " — Trajan 
had  not  dared  relate  Philip's  exploit. 

"  Then  I  give  you  no  assurance.  I  will  have  the  papers 
of  accusation  examined  and  apprise  you  of  the  result. 
Meanwhile,  I  must  say  to  you  that  the  case  is  serious. 
Several  of  the  same  sort  have  arisen  since  we  entered 
Lorraine.  People  pretending  to  be  English,  but  really 
French  subjects,  have  maltreated  and  insulted  our  officers, 
and  a  month  ago  very  stringent  orders  were  issued  that  all 
such  cases  should  be  referred  to  a  special  tribunal — com 
posed  of  military  advocates,  and  with  powers  of  life  and 
death.  If  your  friend  can  bring  no  ocular  witnesses,  the 
court  is  bound  to  take  the  accuser's  statement  and  sentence 
accordingly." 

lie  turned  his  back,  and  understanding  the  dismissal, 
Trajan  withdrew,  groaning :  "  Oh,  Philip,  Philip,  what 
madness  impelled  you  to  deprive  us  of  the  only  means 
of  rescuing  the  victim  ?"  The  papers  were  completed  when 
lie  re-entered  the  room  at  the  inn,  and,  though  not  hoping 
much  from  them,  they  were  despatched  to  Busch,  with  a 
prayer  to  lay  them  before  the  chancellor  at  the  first  favor 
able  opportunity.  As  may  be  imagined,  the  mother  and 


444  TRAJAN. 

sister  were  not  inspirited  by  the  tale  Trajan  had  to  tell, 
though  he  softened  and  colored  it  as  much  as  he  dared. 

"But  did  he  give  us  permission  to  see  Elliot?"  asked  the 
mother  anxiously  as  the  story  came  to  an  end.  Trajan 
started  guiltily.  He  had  entirely  forgotten  that.  He  would 
run  back  and  make  the  request.  But  when  lie  got  to  the 
door  access  was  denied  him.  The  count,  he  was  informed, 
was  occupied  in  affairs  of  state,  and  had  given  orders  to 
admit  no  one.  Reproaching  himself  bitterly  for  his  shame 
ful  forgetfulness,  he  hastened  to  his  friend  the  lieutenant  of 
the  provost.  That  cordial  Saxon's  eyes  lighted  with  pleas 
ure.  He  instantly  proposed  chess  and  beer.  Though  burn 
ing  with  impatience,  Trajan  saw  no  other  way  of  getting  at 
what  he  wanted.  He  was  strong  at  chess  and  had  discom 
fited  the  Saxon  in  several  previous  encounters,  but,  absorbed 
in  his  project,  he  was  hardly  over  the  first  gambit,  his  knight 
wandering  helplessly  among  pawns  and  bishops,  when  with 
a  shout  of  exultation  the  delighted  lieutenant  routed  him  with 
pawn  and  bishop,  only  less  ignominiously  than  by  the  "  fool's 
mate."  This  put  him  in  beaming  humor,  and  he  confided 
to  his  vanquished  friend  that  he  had  been  playing  with  the 
spy. 

"  The  spy  ?  "  echoed  Trajan  innocently.     "  What  spy  ?  " 

"  Why,  the  fellow  that  was  brought  in  last  night.  He 
says  he's  an  American,  by  the  way.  Perhaps  you  may 
know  him.  His  name  is  Arden." 

"  Mate,"  said  Trajan,  closing  in  on  the  king  with  a  pawn, 
and  uncovering  queen  and  knight  bearing  on  the  king. 

"  Adi,  blitzen  !  how  sly  you  are!  Another  game,"  he 
pleaded,  as  Trajan  arose  ;  "  that's  a  good  fellow,  just  one." 
Trajan,  protesting  that  he  must  be  away  at  once,  sat  down 
to  the  rubber,  and  after  just  enough  contest  to  make  the 
victory  worth  while,  he  rose  as  the  enraptured  Saxon  cried, 
"  Mate  !  "  Hurrying  back  to  the  Rue  Tronchon,  Trajan 
scribbled  a  line  to  Busch  begging  him  for  a  moment's 
speech.  The  Herr  doctor,  beaming  in  the  effulgence  of  a 


A  MISSION  TO   THE  KING.  445 

recent  ray  of  the  chancellor's  sunshine,  came  to  the  young 
man,  confiding  to  him  that  there  was  no  angel  in  the  heav 
enly  hierarchy  so  good,  so  great,  so  perfect,  "  so  ivunder- 
bar  and  prachtvoll "  as  the  dear,  the  adored  chief.  When 
Trajan  had  succeeded  in  arousing  him  to  actual  things,  he 
appealed  to  his  kind  heart  to  aid  a  wretched  mother  and 
sister  to  get  speech  of  the  son  and  brother  detained  at  the 
provost  guard.  The  sentimental  doctor  was  visibly  moved, 
as  much  by  the  delicate  flattery  in  which  Trajan  had  man 
aged  to  insinuate  his  potency,  as  by  the  pathetic  flight  of  the 
wretched  family. 

"  Ach  Gott,  Ach  Gott,  das  ist  aber  Schadlich — es  ist — but  I 
will  see — I  will  see  if  it  can  be  managed.  The  chief  doesn't 
like  to  meddle  in  Moltke's  matters,  but  as  this  is  more  civil 
than  military  I  will  do  what  I  can — wait  !  "  He  shambled 
into  the  count's  apartment,  rubbing  his  spectacles,  on  which 
there  was  a  suspicious  moisture  visible.  Five  minutes 
passed  ;  a  half  hour — Trajan's  heart  swelled  with  sickening 
suspense.  The  guard  was  changed  as  he  sat  distractedly 
on  the  stone  bench  ;  couriers  passed  in  and  out  ;  great 
personages,  whose  appearance  brought  the  whole  detail  to 
alignment  and  salute,  came,  entered  and  disappeared.  The 
clock  of  the  cathedral  was  booming  five  from  its  brazen  but 
melodiously  reverberating  tongue,  as  the  Herr  doctor,  his 
hedge-hog  but  kindly  face  beaming  with  delight,  appeared 
waving  a  paper  in  triumph. 

"  There,  isn't  our  glorious  chief  an  archangel  of  mercy  as 
well  as  wisdom  ?  Give  that  to  the  arme  mutterchen  und 
schwesterchen — odious  language — the  French — that  has  no 
equivalent  for  those  two  gemuthlich  and  leiblich  words. 
Take  that  and  rejoice  their  traurige  herzen,  stolid  English 
man  that  you  are,  who  can  not  comprehend  our  machtvoll 
chief,  nor  even  look  grateful  for  such  God-like  condescen 
sion,"  and  he  pushed  Trajan  away  with  good-humored 
impatience.  "  Dummer  kopf,  I  have  a  great  mind  to  carry 
the  message  myself  ;  you  take  it  so  coolly — as  though  the 


446  TRAJAN. 

chancellor's   sign   manual  were   such  an  every  day  affair. 


But  Trajan,  aghast  at  the  thought  of  the  good  doctor's 
appearance  before  the  bewildered  ladies,  fled  like  a  shot,  the 
doctor's  grunts  of  laughter  sounding  after  him.  When  he 
was  safe  from  observation  he  opened  the  paper  and  found 
that  it  was  a  permit  for  the  Frau  and  Frdulein  Arden  to  see 
the  prisoner  Arden  in  the  presence  of  a  provost  guard  for  a 
half  hour,  and  signed  "  Bismarck,  Chancellor." 

Discouraged  by  Trajan's  long  absence  and  dreading  some 
new  calamity,  Mrs.  Arden  was  stretched  dejectedly  on  the 
stiff  sofa,  while  Edith  with  swollen  eyes  sat  beside  her 
caressing  and  comforting  her.  Trajan's  face  was  like  a 
burst  of  sunshine  when  a  curtained  window  is  thrown  open. 
It  brought  an  almost  ludicrous  revival  to  the  anxious  group. 
Mrs.  Arden  was  so  nimble  in  resuming  wrap  and  bonnet 
that  when  Edith  (who  had  by  some  mischance  lost  her  hand 
in  Trajan's  and  found  herself  too  trembling  to  withdraw  it 
from  his  lips)  looked  up,  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  in 
the  way  of  filial  duty. 

Trajan  was  to  show  them  the  entrance,  but  was  not  himself 
to  appear.  Furthermore  he  charged  them,  as  they  hoped 
for  Elliot's  liberation,  not  to  breathe  a  syllable  of  his  pres 
ence  in  Meaux,  because  every  word  would  be  heard  by  the 
lieutenant.  Edith  was  to  mark  with  minute  attention  the 
exact  location  of  Elliot's  apartment  and  every  thing  that 
would  help  guide  an  outsider  in  case  a  rescue  were  the  only 
means  of  relieving  the  prisoner.  Thus  instructed  the  two 
ladies  sallied  out  buoyantly,  and  Trajan  showing  them  the 
doorway  marked  by  a  sentinel,  sauntered  across  the  street 
to  keep  an  eye  on  the  expedition.  He  saw  the  ladies  stop 
timidly  and  speak  to  the  sentinel,  who  called  to  the  corporal, 
who,  shown  the  paper,  touched  his  cap  deferentially  and  the 
ladies  disappeared.  Mrs.  Arden  would  have  been  shocked, 
I'm  sure,  if  she  had  known  the  thoughts  that  were  passing 
in  Trajan's  mind  during  that  memorable  half  hour. 


TRAJAN'S  KNIGHT  TAKES  THE  KING'S  PA  WN.    447 

She  sat  with  Elliot's  hand  in  hers,  while  Edith  by  fits  and 
starts  wandered  from  corner  to  corner,  alternately  fondling 
the  prisoner  and  chattering  with  the  admiring  lieutenant, 
who  did  his  disagreeable  duty  with  all  the  delicacy  of  a 
young  fellow  dazzled  by  such  innocence  and  beauty,  and  re 
minded  by  it  of  his  blue-eyed  Wilhelmina,  among  strangers 
by  the  great  waters  of  the  schone  inland  meer  that  Trajan 
had  so  picturesquely  described.  Elliot  supposed  Philip  to 
be  with  his  mother  and  sister,  and  they  did  not  undeceive 
him.  When  the  time  came  for  parting,  Elliot  whispered  in 
English  to  Edith  that  she  had  made  a  conquest  of  the  guard 
and  might  prevail  upon  that  sentimental  youth  to  wink  at 
his  escape.  The  lieutenant's  eyes  met  Edith's  as  she  looked 
up  blushing.  She  was  sure  that  he  had  not  only  heard  the 
playful  speech,  but  understood  it.  She  was  not  left  in 
doubt  on  the  point,  for  as  they  came  out  into  the  office  he 
said  with  respectful  tenderness  : 

"  I,  too,  have  a  mother  and  sister,  Fraulein,  and  you  may 
be  sure  that  if  it  in  any  way  depended  on  me  your  brother 
would  be  a  free  man  this  instant — and — and  I  should  be  re 
warded  by  a  sweet  girl  I  love — in  your  country."  The 
mother  and  daughter  gave  the  honest  lad  their  hands,  and 
there  were  tears  in  other  than  the  ladies'  eyes  as  they  left 
Elliot  to  uncertainty,  consoled  by  the  thought  that  he  had 
so  humane  a  jailer. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

TRAJAN'S  KNIGHT  TAKES  THE  KING'S  PAWN. 

THERE  is  a  consecutiveness  in  the  incidents  forced  upon 
us  in  life  which  fairly  palsies  the  doctrines  of  chance. 
When  we  depart  from  our  normal  duties  and  occupations, 
in  no  matter  what  sphere,  the  first  adventure  in  the  under 
taking  inevitably  involves  a  sequence  of  the  unexpected, 
which,  when  we  read,  we  set  down  as  the  fabric  of  the 


44$  TRAJAN, 

poets'  vision.  Read  any  biography  your  eye  may  light  on 
in  your  well-stored  shelves,  from  Plutarch  and  Pliny  to 
Boswell  and  Trevelyan,  and  you  will  be  struck  by  the  truth 
of  this  and  forced  to  own  its  application.  Did  you  ever 
study  the  maneuvers  of  the  ant,  separated  by  chance  from 
the  home  highway  ?  How  he  encounters  the  ambuscaded 
sparrow,  how  warily  he  circumvailates  every  dubious 
debouch  from  the  path  he  has  set  himself,  how  he  invents 
defense  and  overcomes  prodigies,  until  finally  arriving  at 
the  common  camp  and  finding  the  guards  set  and  the  por 
tals  closed,  he  intrenches  himself  under  a  neighboring  mound, 
with  every  inlet  sealed,  to  await  the  morning  sally  of  his 
comrades  ?  I  have  before  now  watched  with  wonder  and 
delight  a  common  spider,  taken  by  curiosity,  or  malevolent 
higher  power  of  the  human  sort,  and  set  upon  a  miniature 
island  in  a  miniature  lakelet.  I  have  seen  the  undaunted 
little  architect  set  out  philosophically  on  a  tour  of  inspection 
around  the  entire  coast  of  the  tiny  land.  I  have  seen  him, 
without  a  single  appliance  of  meteorological  science,  gauge 
the  wind,  secure  a  stray  leaf  and  set  his  argonaut  sail  for 
the  mainland,  and  arrive  there  as  composedly  as  Columbus 
at  Santa  Cruz.  More  persevering  students  tell  of  the  little 
wizard  thrown  Crusoe-like  on  an  island,  studying  the  wind, 
measuring  the  strait  and  fastening  one  end  of  his  web  to  an 
eminence,  launching  himself  in  a  web-woven  balloon  and 
carried  by  the  wind  to  terra  firma.  An  exploit  is  like  a  lie — 
to  make  exigencies  come  to  a  sane  conclusion,  a  dozen 
more  must  be  invented  to  support  it. 

Trajan  had  nothing  of  the  adventurous  in  him.  He  was 
not  even  a  romanticist  in  literature  or  art.  He  was  a  realist. 
The  monotone  of  Corot  was  his  ideal  of  contemporary  paint 
ing,  the  early  prose  of  George  Elliot  his  highest  admiration 
in  romance.  Dickens,  with  his  hair-breadth  escapes  and 
invraisemblable  episodes,  he  abhorred.  Thackeray  he  delighted 
in,  but  more  as  a  master  wit  than  novelist.  So  it  may  be 
readily  inferred  that  his  present  anomalous  situation  was 


TRAJAN'S  KNIGHT  TAKES  THE  KING'S  PA  WN.     449 

neither  congenial  nor  natural.  He  did  rot  shrink  from 
peril,  but  he  held  all  sorts  of  compromise  of  man's  personal 
safety,  as  a  proof  of  recklessness  or  wanton  disregard  of  the 
humanities  that  rule  well-regulated  lives.  He  summed  up 
the  predicament  humorously,  as  one  where  adventures  had 
been  thrust  upon  him,  by  no  seeking  of  his  own.  But  if  he 
had  reflected  a  moment  he  would  have  seen  that  the  very 
air  he  breathed  was  full  of  the  exciting  and  unexpected. 
How  little  had  the  dull  king,  lolling  in  his  episcopal  grace's 
cushions  yonder,  imagined  two  months  before  that,  ere  the 
crimson  of  autumn  had  dyed  the  vernal  tresses  of  summer, 
he  should  be  virtual  lord  of  France,  with  his  girdle  of  iron 
and  his  scepter  of  death  around  the  walls  of  Paris  ! 

Trajan  had  secured  his  courier  to  Jules  Favre,  who  bore 
the  message  agreed  upon.  He  was  despatched  so  soon  as 
the  chancellor  had  made  known  his  disposition,  and  now  he 
was  free  to  devote  himself  for  the  time  being  to  Elliot. 
Edith  had  taken  note  of  the  room  her  brother  occupied. 
She  drew  a  plan,  which  gave  Trajan  the  interior.  His  next 
business  was  to  reconnoiter  the  approaches  from  the  outside, 
like  a  prudent  commander  taking  every  contingency  into 
account.  He  did  not  confide  his  projects  to  Mrs.  Arden  or 
Edith,  though  the  latter  conjectured  the  purpose  of  the 
room  plan.  Late  that  night  Busch  sent  for  the  young  man, 
and  with  a  very  serious  and  pitying  expression,  told  him  that 
Elliot's  case  was  very  grave  ;  that  the  officer  had  made  his 
charges  in  due  form  attested  by  two  witnesses,  and  that 
without  a  miracle  in  his  favor,  the  youth  would,  at  the 
very  least,  be  sent  to  the  prison  of  Spandau,  until  the  close 
of  the  war.  "  All  that  can  be  done,"  he  added,  "  is  for 
Madame  Arden  to  go  at  once  to  Paris  and  lay  the  matter 
before  the  American  minister.  He  may  be  able  to  get  the 
king  to  interfere.  The  chancellor  can  not  and  does  not 
feel  like  urging,  because,  as.it  is,  the  king  feels  restive  under 
the  dominating  sway  of  the  minister.  I  have  procured  a 
safe  conduct  for  the  ladies  to  go  to  Paris," 


45°  TRAJAN. 

"  And  the  prisoner — what  is  to  become  of  him  ?  "  asked 
Trajan,  striving  to  speak  calmly. 

'"  He  will  be  forwarded  to  Cologne  to-morrow.  The  order 
is  already  issued.  But  you  need  have  no  fear  ;  he  will  be 
well  treated."  Grasping  the  kind  doctor's  hand,  Trajan 
thanked  him  with  an  emotion  that  he  never  thought  he 
should  feel  for  an  agent  of  the  man  of  blood  and  iron. 

He  waited  until  dinner  was  ended  before  distressing  the 
ladies  with  the  sinister  news.  He  modified  the  danger  as  much 
as  he  could,  and  spoke  hopefully  of  the  intervention  of  the 
American  minister,  who  was  a  warm  friend  of  Mrs.  Arden. 
They  were  to  set  out  at  midnight,  and  Trajan  advised  that 
they  should  stop  at  Crecy  en  route,  take  Mrs.  Briscoe,  Bella, 
and  Kate,  and  order  their  household  furnishing  and  the  like 
packed,  and  leave  the  house  in  the  care  of  the  maire.  It  was 
then  eight  o'clock  ;  by  nine  they  could  reach  Crecy,  and  at 
midnight  join*  the  convoy  as  it  passed  through  the  village  of 
St.  Germain  on  the  road  to  Paris. 

"  But  surely  you  will  accompany  us  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Arden 
anxiously. 

'*  No.  I  am  compelled  to  remain  here.  I  shall  not  quit 
the  place  until  I  learn  what  befalls  Elliot."  He  glanced 
at  Edith  as  he  spoke,  and  she,  putting  her  arms  around  her 
mother's  neck,  said  cheerfully  : 

"  Of  course,  mamma,  Trajan  must  stay  while  we  go  to 
work  for  the  release  at  the  other  end  of  the  line." 

A  half  hour  later  the  carriage  with  the  German  guard 
sharing  the  seat  with  Bernard  drove  rapidly  away  in  the 
darkness,  laden  with  heavy  hearts,  and  leaving  one  at  least, 
not  light,  though  there  was  love-light  in  the  eye  that  fol 
lowed  the  vehicle  and  caught  the  last  glimpse  of  the  pallid 
face  leaning  out  of  the  window.  By  nine  o'clock  the  town 
was  profoundly  quiet.  Save  the  regular  tramp  of  the 
sentries  before  the  public  buildings,  there  were  only  occa 
sional  steps  heard  on  the  pavement.  The  cathedral  clock 
Struck  nine  as  Trajan  went  to  his  room.  Unlocking  a  closet 


s  KX1GHT  TAKES  THE  KING'S  PA  WN.     451 

he  took  out  a  pair  of  common  cotton  trowsers,  a  dark  gray 
blouse,  and  a  peasant's  hat,  and  a  pair  of  wooden  shoes.  He 
took  a  revolver  from  a  drawer,  slipped  it  with  a  small  supply 
of  cartridges  into  the  capacious  pocket  of  the  blouse  and  tied 
the  whole  together  in  a  bundle.  Opening  the  door  into  the 
hall,  and  finding  the  coast  clear,  he  stole  cautiously  up 
another  flight  of  stairs,  and  then,  by  means  of  a  ladder,  to 
the  roof.  In  a  few  minutes  he  was  on  the  low  mansard 
under  which  Elliot  lay  imprisoned.  Taking  a  slender  but 
stout  cord  from  his  pocket  he  fastened  it  to  the  bundle,  and 
leaning  over  the  water  trough,  lowered  it  almost  to  the 
ground.  Then,  tying  the  cord  to  the  lead  projection  of  the 
water-spout,  he  slipped  back  to  his  own  room,  blew  out  the 
light,  and  ran  down  the  stairs  noisily  to  the  street. 

An  instant  later  he  was  cordially  welcomed  by  the  lieuten 
ant,  who  was  radiant  at  the  prospect  of  his  beloved  game. 
Trajan  affirmed  gayly  that  he  was  just  in  the  humor  to  play 
and  meant  to  vanquish  the  best  in  five  games  if  it  took  till 
morning.  The  delighted  lieutenant  agreed  with  all  his  heart. 
The  games  went  on  silently,  interrupted  only  by  copious 
potations  of  beer,  which  Trajan  insisted  on  sharing  with  the 
guards,  a  breach  of  discipline  which  the  lieutenant  good-natur 
edly  permitted  in  return  for  the  bliss  of  a  night's  unbroken 
schach  spiel.  The  clanging  tongue  of  St.  Etienne's  bell 
droned  out  midnight.  The  fifth  game  had  been  played,  and 
Trajan  had  won  three  when  he  suggested  that  as  he  was 
dead  tired  and  sleepy  he  would  lie  down  for  twenty  minutes 
and  be  ready  to  renew  the  wager.  The  lieutenant  hailed 
the  suggestion  with  delight,  and  conducted  Trajan  into  a 
hallway  at  right  angles  with  the  bureau.  "  Here  is  my  cot. 
I  will  allow  you  twenty-five  minutes.  So  make  the  best  of 
your  time." 

Trajan  uttered  a  loud  and  prolonged  yawn. 

"  Sh — sh — "  said  the  Saxon.  "  It's  bad  enough  to  be  con 
fined  without  being  kept  awake.  Have  some  sympathy  for 
the  unfortunate.  The  American  is  next  door," 


452  TRAJAN. 

Trajan,  laughing,  threw  himself  on  the  cot  and  his  host  with 
drew.  No  sooner  had  his  steps  sounded  on  the  floor  of  the 
outer  room  than  Trajan,  rising,  groped  softly,  unshod,  to  the 
open  door.  The  hall  was  in  profound  darkness.  Cautiously 
feeling  his  way,  he  reached  the  door  of  the  room  in  which 
Elliot  was  confined.  Edith  had  described  it  as  bolted  on 
the  outside,  and  in  an  instant  he  had  slipped  back  the  bolt. 
He  grew  weak  with  anguish,  when,  having  turned  the  handle, 
the  door  remained  immovable.  He  ran  his  hand  down — 
possibly  another  bolt — no — but  nearly  up  to  his  breast,  a 
key  was  in  the  lock.  He  turns  it  softly.  Now  the  door 
swings  out,  toward  him.  The  room  is  dark  as  the  hall,  but 
he  can  tell  by  a  gentle  breathing  where  the  cot  is,  and  has  the 
plan  of  the  room  sketched  by  Edith  vividly  in  his  mind. 

He  bends  over  the  sleeper  and  gently  shakes  him,  whisper 
ing  in  his  ear  distinctly,  but  not  above  his  breath,  "  Don't 
speak  ;  make  no  noise  ;  be  ready  ;  sh—  '  Elliot  startled,  for 
tunately  does  not  cry  out.  He  starts  in  wonder  and  in  a  thrill 
ing  of  suspense,  waits.  Trajan  reaches  the  window,  which  is 
guarded  by  horizontal  bars,  but  wide  enough  apart  to  enable 
him  to  haul  the  bundle  through.  He  opens  it  as  he  returns 
to  Elliot,  puts  his  mouth  to  his  ear,  and  whispers,  "  Dress 
quickly."  By  Trajan's  help,  Elliot  is  in  the  clothes  within  two 
minutes.  "  Now  I'll  go  ahead.  Carry  your  shoes  in  your 
hand.  When  we  reach  the  angle  leading  to  the  bureau,  I 
will  enter,  and  when  you  see  the  light  go  out,  push  boldly  to 
the  doorway.  I  will  distract  the  guards  from  seeing  you." 

"Who  is  it?  who  is  it  befriending  me?"  exclaimed 
Elliot,  gluing  his  lips  to  Trajan's  ear. 

"Sh — !  follow  me."  He  closed  the  door  as  they  emerged, 
and  taking  Elliot's  hand  led  him  to  the  lieutenant's  cham 
ber.  "  Now,"  he  continued  as  he  slipped  his  own  shoes  on, 
"  stay  here  till  I  disappear  around  the  corner  of  the  wall. 
Then  follow  and  stand  there  until  you  see  the  lights  go  out ; 
then  go  to  your  left,  to  the  railway,  and  follow  that  to  the 
canal.  Avoid  the  German  pickets — keep  due  west  until  you 


TRAJAN'S  KNIGHT  TAKES  THE  KING'S  PAWN.     453 

reach  Paris  ;  there  let  the  French  pickets  capture  you." 
Steps  were  heard  in  the  bureau.  Both  stood  in  breathless 
suspense.  The  steps  receded  and  an  echo  could  be  heard 
on  the  pavement  outside. 

"  Now  be  ready — be  cool,  keep  your  wits  about  you,  and 
don't  use  your  pistol  with  soldiers  in  any  event."  Saying  this 
Trajan  passed  noiselessly  through  the  hallway,  turned  the 
corner  and  entered  the  bureau.  The  lieutenant  was  not  to 
be  seen.  Taking  out  a  cigar,  Trajan  offered  one  to  the 
guard  who  stood  sleepily  leaning  against  the  door.  He 
came  forward  to  get  it  and  as  he  did  so  Trajan  dropped  into 
the  chair. 

"  I'm  too  lazy  to  get  up  for  a  light,"  he  said  yawning, 
"  give  me  the  candle."  As  the  soldier  came  toward  him  with 
it,  Trajan  tipped  the  chair  backward  in  the  favorite  attitude 
of  his  compatriots  and  the  soldier  had  to  pass  to  his  side  to 
hand  him  the  light.  It  was  barely  in  Trajan's  hand  when 
the  chair  slipped,  and  as  he  fell  backward  the  light  was 
adroitly  quenched,  while  with  a  laugh  he  seized  the  soldier 
to  aid  him  to  arise.  But  he  was  unaccountably  clumsy  and 
managed  in  his  struggles  to  take  up  a  minute  or  more.  It 
took  another  for  the  soldier  to  find  the  candle,  which  proved 
to  have  been  broken  beyond  use. 

"  Ach  Gott"  exclaimed  the  soldier  impatiently,  "  there's 
plenty  in  the  cupboard."  One  was  soon  found  and  lighted. 
Trajan  looked  anxiously  toward  the  passage  and  then  went 
to  the  door.  The  street  was  perfectly  tranquil.  He  asked 
for  the  lieutenant,  and  the  soldier  with  a  wink  said  he  had 
been  invited  for  a  walk. 

"  In  that  case  I  will  go  home  and  turn  in  ;  tell  him  he  can 
have  his  revenge  by  coming  to  my  room  if  he  feels  disposed." 
With  this  Trajan  in  devout  gratitude  for  the  chances  which 
had  aided  his  ruse,  and  the  lieutenant's  sudden  exit,  not  the 
least  among  them,  returned  to  his  lodging.  Leaving  his 
shoes  at  his  door  he  stole  to  the  roof  and  secured  the  tell 
tale  cord,  which  on  reaching  his  room  he  cut  up  into  bits  and 


454  TKAJAX. 

disposed  of  by  wrapping  around  a  rickety  bedstead  and  in 
other  fragmentary  ways  to  mislead  investigation  should  sus 
picion  be  directed  toward  him.  He  had  been  in  bed  an 
hour  or  more  and  fallen  into  a  doze  when  he  was  aroused  by 
a  loud  knock  at  the  door.  He  struck  a  match  and  throwing 
the  door  open,  the  lieutenant  stood  before  him  leering  and 
half  tipsy. 

"You  deserve  to  have  a  week's  katzenjammer"  he  said 
unsteadily,  "  for  de&erting  your  post.  But  I'm  bound  to 
finish  the  game."  He  had  the  board  and  chessmen  and 
Trajan,  nothing  loth,  sat  down  with  the  young  enthusiast. 
But  he  was  not  in  condition  to  play.  His  moves  were  wild 
and  haphazard.  He  was  disastrously  mated.  Rising,  he 
threw  himself  on  Trajan's  bed  and  was  soon  fast  asleep. 
Trajan  sat  at  the  open  window  and  dozed  fitfully  until  the 
hot  sun  shining  in  aroused  him.  The  lieutenant  was  sleep 
ing  peacefully.  Trajan  dressed  himself  noiselessly,  mean 
ing  to  go  out  and  leave  the  sleeper  undisturbed — but  he 
opened  his  eyes,  rubbed  them,  and  not  comprehending  the 
strange  surroundings,  looked  in  puzzled  uncertainty  at 
Trajan. 

<c  Have  you  slept  off  your  spree,  or  are  you  \nkatzenjammer 
condition  ? "  asked  the  latter,  as  the  officer  rose  to  a  sitting 
posture.  He  realized  all,  and  with  a  conscience-stricken 
exclamation  asked  tragi-comically — "  How  could  you  let  me 
remain  here  all  night  ?  " 

"  No  harm  done,  old  fellow  ;  nobody  will  be  any  the 
wiser." 

"  But  there  is  harm  ;  if  it  should  be  found  out  I  should 
be  disgraced  and  cashiered." 

"  Oh,  it  won't  be  found  out,  no  one  will  know  of  it  but 
your  own  guards,  and  you  can  — 

A  tramping  of  heavy  feet  was  heard  coming  to  the  door. 
There  was  a  loud  knock  and  it  was  pushed  open  before 
Trajan  could  bid  the  intruder  enter.  It  was  the  landlord, 
with  one  of  the  lieutenant's  guards,  groaning  and  quavering. 


TRAJAN'S  KNIGHT  TAKES  THE  KING'S  PA  WN.     455 

"  What  in  God's  name  has  happened  ?  Why  are  you 
here — are  you  an  idiot  ?  Speak !  "  cried  the  enraged 
officer. 

"Ac/i  Gott,  Ach  Gott!"  groaned  the  soldier.  "  He  is 
gone — the  spy  has  escaped." 

With  a  moan,  that  was  almost  a  shriek,  the  terrified  lieu 
tenant  pushed  the  trembling  soldier  aside,  nearly  overturn 
ing  the  gaping  landlord,  who,  ignorant  of  German,  thought 
his  company  had  gone  crazy.  Trajan  told  him  the  trouble 
and  there  was  no  consternation  on  the  Gaul's  face  as  the 
other  turned  away  to  conceal  his  own  sentiment. 

"  When  did  he  get  away,  and  how  ? "  he  asked  the  soldier, 
who  stood  dazed,  not  knowing  whether  to  go  or  stay. 

"  Ach  Gott,  bewahr — I  know  not.  It  was  five  o'clock 
when  I  knocked  at  the  door  to  give  him  his  coffee.  The 
bolt  was  firm,  but  the  key  was  not  in  the  door.  There  was 
no  answer  from  the  inside,  and  I  called  the  corporal,  who 
was  just  relieving  the  guard.  The  door  was  broken  open  ; 
the  spy's  clothes  were  on  the  floor,  but  he  was  nowhere 
to  be  seen.  Ach  Gott,  what  will  happen  ?  We  shall  be 
shot — we  shall  be  imprisoned." 

Trajan  pacified  the  poor  fellow,  and  found  the  effort  not 
at  all  difficult.  It's  wonderful  the  eloquent  reserves  of  con 
solation  we  find  to  mitigate  the  misfortunes  of  others,  that 
we  are  conscious  of  having  a  share  in  bringing  about. 
Trajan  felt  that  he  could  have  exhorted  with  an  angel's 
tongue,  if  the  whole  Prussian  army  instead  of  the  poor  out 
witted  guard  had  been  bemoaning  the  same  or  a  similar 
event.  He  sent  the  poor  fellow  away  with  money  to  get 
beer,  and  began  to  reflect  on  his  own  situation.  Should  the 
details  of  the  night  reach  Bismarck's  ears,  he  had  no  hope 
of  hoodwinking  that  penetrating  intelligence,  but  he 
counted  on  the  fact  of  the  escape  not  reaching  him, 
since  the  incident  was  not  within  his  immediate  jurisdic 
tion  to  investigate.  At  noon  he  received  a  message  from 
Busch  to  come  to  him.  The  old  doctor  scrutinized 


45  6  TRAJAtf. 

him  sharply,  as  he  asked  dryly  if  he  had  heard  of  the 
escape. 

Yes,  he  had  heard.  How  did  it  happen  ?  But  the  doctor 
retorted  crossly  that  he  couldn't  be  expected  to  know.  He 
had  great  news  for  him,  however.  Jules  Favre  would  be  at 
Meaux  at  five  o'clock,  and  had  asked  that  he,  Trajan, 
be  permitted  to  join  him  ;  and  here  ends  Trajan's  diplo 
matic  exploits.  Jules  Favre's  fruitless  mission  to  Ferrieres, 
where  Bismarck  forced  him  to  follow  on  a  ridiculous  game  of 
hide  and  seek,  is  part  of  the  bouffe  history  of  that  sad  time, 
but  as  it  did  not  concern  any  of  the  persons  whose  destiny 
forms  the  woof  of  this  record,  I  leave  Bismarck  and  the 
honest  Busch,  bombastic,  egotistic,  cruel  at  times,  but  in  the 
main  softened  by  much  of  that  gemiithlichkeit,  the  absence 
of  which  he  so  vigorously  laments,  in  that  edifying  master- 
work  in  which  he  apotheosizes  his  divinity  of  blood  and  iron. 

While  Paris  was  opening  its  eyes  to  the  unwonted 
experiences  of  imprisonment,  the  next  morning,  Trajan, 
with  the  unhappy  Favre,  passed  secretly,  by  connivance  of 
the  military,  into  the  northern  gate,  and  an  hour  later  he  was 
again  in  the  Rue  Dragon,  affording  infinite  comfort  to  Betty 
and  Trip.  But  impatient  to  learn  the  fate  of  the  Ardens, 
so  soon  as  he  had  bathed  and  dressed,  he  drove  to  the  Rue 
Chaillot  to  learn  their  whereabouts.  The  benignant  face  of 
the  minister  was  well  known  to  the  young  man,  and  his  im 
patience  was  soon  satisfied  by  learning  that  the  Ardens,  Mrs. 
Briscoe  with  Philip  and  Kate  were  at  their  home  in  the  Rue 
Fran9ois  Premier.  Trajan  was  not  a  model  of  the  repose 
that  marks  the  caste  of  the  Vere  de  Vere,  as  he  told  the  serv 
ant  to  make  known  that  he  was  come.  In  the  great  drawing- 
room,  not  yet  relieved  of  its  summer  mufflings  of  brown 
holland,  he  recalled  the  suspensive  state  of  his  faculties  on 
that  May  day  five  months  before,  when  Elliot,  eager  in  his 
romantic  constancy  and  boyish  devotion,  presented  him  to 
the  friends  who  had  since  so  completely  changed  the  turbid 
current  of  his  life. 


TRAJAN'S  KNIGHT  TAKES  THE  KINCS  PA  WN.     457 

He  was  in  the  humor  now  with  new  hope  at  heart  to  smile 
at  the  odd  mingling  of  the  comic  and  tragic  in  the  topsy 
turvy  drama.  He  was  in  such  high  spirits,  so  buoyantly 
confident  of  the  future,  so  radiantly  content  with  the 
present,  that  he  contemplated  Theo's  whimsical  handiwork 
in  bringing  him  to  Elliot  and  then  alienating  him,  with 
humorous  wonder,  rather  than  hatred.  Had  the  siren  come 
within  his  reach,  he  would,  perhaps,  have  made  recondite 
jokes  on  the  hegira  of  Ulysses  and  his  escape  from  the 
Circean  spell.  His  reflections  were  at  that  moment  inter 
rupted  by  exclamations  ;  both  his  hands  were  snatched  by 
Miss  McNair,  and  I  verily  believe  she  would  have  given  him 
a  vicarious  hug  if  the  depressing  Philip  had  not  been  among 
the  chattering  group.  They  were  all  there,  and  every  one 
had  a  question  to  ask,  either  by  word  of  mouth  or  the  im 
perative  interrogatory  of  the  eye.  His  tale,  so  far  as  pru 
dent,  was  soon  told,  and  then  looking  about  him  he  asked  : 

"  Where's  Elliot  ?  " 

"  Where  is  Elliot  ? "  echoed  Mrs.  Arden  blankly,  sinking 
into  a  mountain  of  rustling  Holland.  "  Why,  haven't  you 
brought  him  with  you  ?  You  didn't  leave  him  in — in — 
prison  - 

Trajan  recounted  the  events  of  the  famous  chess  tourna 
ment  and  the  check  to  the  king,  as  he  picturesquely  styled 
Elliot's  flight  under  the  nose  of  the  guard.  "But,"  he  con 
tinued,  "there's  no  cause  to  worry.  Meaux  is  thirty  miles 
from  here.  Elliot  will  be  compelled  to  lie  quiet  during  the 
day  and  make  his  way  at  night,  when  the  camp  fires  will 
warn  him  from  Prussian  outposts.  It  will  take  him  at  least 
three  nights,  unaccustomed  as  he  is  to  woods  and  fields.  It 
will  perhaps  be  a  week  before  we  get  track  of  him,  for  we 
must  count  on  detentions  at  the  French  outposts,  and 
indeed  you  need  not  be  surprised  if  he  is  refused  admission 
to  Paris  at  all  ;  Had  you  not  been  sent  under  flag  of  truce, 
by  the  intermediation  of  the  American  minister,  you  would 
not  have  been  admitted." 


45  8  TRAJAN. 

"  I  can  affirm  that,"  said  Philip  eagerly.  "  It  was  only  by 
invoking  the  American  minister,  through  the  timely  pres 
ence  of  Trochu  at  the  outer  forts,  that  I  got  in.  I  was 
regarded  alternately  as  a  Prussian  spy  and  a  Bonapartist 
and  treated  very  cavalierly  by  the  Mobiles,  whose  patriotism 
exceeds  their  sense  of  subordination  or  proficiency  in  dis 
cipline." 

"  But  tell  me,  Kent — you  who  pose  as  a  sage  and  some 
times  cynic,  how  in  the  world  came  you  to  play  such  a  blue- 
fire  scene  with  the  German  ?  I  can  understand  Elliot  giv 
ing  way  to  his  indignation,  ignorant  as  he  is  of  the  arbitrary 
and  lawless  methods  of  a  conquering  army,  but  you — a 
soldier  and  a  sage — the  affair  is  beyond  me." 

Philip  laughed  and  reddened.  "  Now  that  all  has  turned 
out  well,  I  confess  to  some  surprise  myself,"  he  said.  "  But 
you  have  no  idea  of  the  intolerable  and  insulting  conduct 
of  that  ruffian,  Rauberkeller  —  was  there  ever  an  apter 
name  ?  I  can  readily  imagine  him  robbing  cellars,  as  his 
name  implies,  all  his  life.  I  was  exasperated  beyond  endur 
ance,  and  I  thought  an  outbreak  would  be  more  likely  to 
teach  the  fellow  that  he  had  no  longer  a  timid  and  brow 
beaten  Frenchman  to  deal  with.  I  knew  perfectly  well  that 
his  words  would  have  caused  his  dismissal  by  any  court  in 
the  army,  and  I  fancied  that  the  exhibition  of  this  knowl 
edge  would  terrify  him,  for  there's  nothing  so  craven  as  the 
cowardice  of  German  officials  in  dealing  with  their  superiors. 

"  I  realized  so  soon  as  he  came  to  Les  Charmettes  that 
there  would  be  trouble,  for  I  have  followed  the  accounts  in 
the  English  press,  revealing  the  unheard-of  tyranny  of  the 
invaders  in  their  exactions  upon  the  inhabitants,  natives 
and  foreigners  alike.  I  knew  that  the  family  had  nothing 
to  fear  from  the  soldiers,  nor  the  officers,  while  sober  ;  and 
convinced  that  Elliot  could  only  be  saved  from  annoy 
ance  and  perhaps  imprisonment  in  a  Prussian  fortress,  I 
determined,  the  moment  he  was  hurried  away,  to  fly  to  Paris 
that  night.  I  easily  evaded  the  German  pickets,  but  had 


TRAJAN'S  K 'NIGH 'T  TAKES  THE  KING'S  PA  WN.     459 

considerable  difficulty  with  the  French,  and  was  really  a 
prisoner  until,  at  the  legation,  the  minister  undertook  to  be 
responsible  for  me  !  " 

"It  is  from  the  legation  we  shall  get  our  first  news  of 
Elliot,  then,"  said  Mrs.  Arden,  with  a  sigh  of  relief.  "  The 
minister  will  think  us  mad  people,  for  at  my  prayer  he  is 
already  negotiating  for  Elliot's  release." 

"  For  a  modest  family,"  remarked  Bella,  "  we  certainly 
have  been  the  cause  of  a  good  deal  of  turmoil,  and  I  should 
think,  Trajan,  you  would  fly  us  as  you  would  the  plague." 

"  Folks  sometimes  do  not  mind  plagues,"  responded  the 
arch  deceiver,  slyly  looking  at  Bella  and  blushing  fool 
ishly. 

"  If  it  took  such  a  form  as  this  willful  young  woman,  a 
wise  man  would  mind  it  a  good  deal,"  Philip  felt  called 
upon  to  aver  as  he  bowed  to  Bella. 

"  Plagues  not  unlike  that  in  form  I  could  make  up  my 
mind  to  endure  very  philosophically,"  insinuated  Trajan, 
artlessly,  while  his  eye  wandered  to  where  "  Somebody," 
blushing  violently,  made  him  warning  signs  to  change  the 
topic. 

Bella  pretended  not  to  understand  that  the  words  were 
not  an  homage  to  herself,  and,  like  a  tried  social  tactician, 
flouted  the  Holland  from  the  piano  and  covered  Edith's  con 
fusion  in  a  crash  from  which  emerged  the  brilliant  opening 
notes  of  "  Richard,  O,  Mon  Roi." 

To  the  group  there,  wrapt  in  harmony,  and  with  minds 
diversely  busy  in  reflection,  serene,  troubled,  happy,  wise, 
and  otherwise,  came,  with  jaunty  confidence  arid  the  atmos 
phere  of  inextinguishable  gayety,  Theo  in  the  company  of 
that  great  personage,  the  prince. 

"  We  learned  at  the  legation  that,  like  the  prophet's  peo 
ple,  you  had  repented  at  the  last  moment,  fled  from  the 
Amalekites  and  entered  the  walls  of  Jericho  ;  but  where's 
the  prince  of  the  House  of  David  ?  "  she  added,  as  in  the 
course  of  her  salutation  Elliot's  absence  struck  her. 


460  TRAJAN. 

"He's  tarrying  out  of  Jericho  till  his  beard  be  grown," 
cried  the  inveterate  Kate,  unable  to  resist  a  dart. 

But  Theo  was  not  in  the  mood  to  risk  an  encounter  then 
and  there.  She  looked  her  inquiry  at  Mrs.  Arden.  When 
the  story  was  told  her  she  was  a  good  deal  subdued,  and 
asked  sympathetically  if  something  could  not  be  done  to 
facilitate  the  wanderer's  return.  Informed  that  Trajan 
made  no  doubt  of  Elliot's  safety,  she  turned  with  regained 
composure  to  that  personage  and  asked,  looking  at  him  un- 
winkingly  : 

"  Pray,  tell  us  your  adventures  with  the  Prussians.  Jules 
gives  hints  of  wonders  that  you  did  at  Metz  and  Sedan.  The 
colony  is  full  of  it,  and  I  am  told  that  the  men  have  deter 
mined  that  you  shall  make  the  speech  at  the  Thanksgiving 
dinner,  if  there's  enough  left  to  eat  in  Paris,  when  Thanks 
giving  comes." 

"  Oh,  I  shall  put  the  story  in  the  form  of  an  Iliad  and 
publish  as  George  Sand  and  Alfred  de  Musset  retold  their 
lives,"  Trajan  answered,  lightly. 

Theo  and  the  prince  were  retained  for  dinner,  to  the 
great  discomfiture  of  two  or  three  who  shared  the  feast.  But 
the  evening  was  a  revival  of  old  times,  and  the  prince  went 
away  declaring  that  Bella  was  "  adorable  " — quite  wearying 
his  companion  with  his  prolix  raptures.  Elliot's  absence  at 
this  juncture  frightened  her.  He  was  the  pivotal  piece  in 
the  mechanism  of  her  aims.  Through  him  the  Arden  house 
hold  was  open  to  her  in  an  intimate  way,  indispensable  for. 
the  regulation  of  the  march  of  events — a  hundredfold  more 
necessary  now  that  his  absence  left  Trajan  free  to  make  him 
self  an  element  of  mischief. 

The  prince's  raptures  over  Bella  did  not  trouble  her.  She 
knew  the  French  nature  well,  and  she  knew  the  time  and  the 
weapon  to  employ  which  should  dissolve  the  simulated  pas 
sion,  as  a  dab  of  the  dish-clout  effaces  the  mist-made  picture 
upon  a  window-pane.  Jules  must  set  seriously  to  winning 
Bella — for,  in  spite  of  her  penetrating  intelligence,  Theo  fell 


TRAJAN'S  KNIGHT  TAKES  THE  KING'S  PA  WN.     461 

into  the  Frenchman's  theory — perhaps  from  the  universality 
of  the  exemplification  about  her,  that  any  woman  was  to  be 
won  by  any  man  who  seriously  set  himself  about  it. 

She  saw  it  done  every  day  ;  she  had  Clare's  case  in  her  own 
household  ;  in  fact,  she  knew  no  instance  where  it  had  failed 
save  in  her  own.  But  that,  she  would  have  said — had  she  been 
confronted  with  it,  merely  made  the  exception  proving  the 
rule  ;  and  she  would  have  been  more  firmly  convinced  in  her 
belief,  knowing  that  Trajan  might  have  won  the  day  by  a 
little  persistence.  Indeed,  here  the  contradiction  of  this 
curious  character  presents  the  strangest  perplexity.  There 
were  moments,  mad  moments,  when  she  turned  with  unutter 
able  delight  to  the  memory  of  the  young  fellow's  chivalric 
courtship.  That  all  the  heart  she  had  to  give  was  his  she 
knew  from  the  first,  and  fought  against  the  seductive  dan 
ger.  But  there  came  a  passionate  yearning  to  be  again  the 
object  of  that  tumultuous,  self-forgetting,  absorbing  passion. 

She  had  no  idea  that  it  had  lessened  a  single  degree  in 
Trajan  ;  a  woman's  wickedness  is  never  so  entirely  black  that 
she  can  believe  in  the  permanent  alienation  of  her  lover's 
love.  It  is  an  inner  conviction  that  coldness,  cruelty,  what 
you  will,  can  not  shake,  for  it  comes  from  the  one  divine 
spark,  that  abides  in  the  most  abandoned  of  us  ;  it  is 
conviction  that  where  a  woman's  love  is  given  it  clings,  in 
spite  of  all  the  destructive  agencies  of  man's  more  selfish 
nature,  diverse  occupations  and  pleasures.  It  was  this 
unshaken  faith  that  made  Trajan,  as  he  stood  in  the  summer- 
house  denouncing  her,  far  dearer  to  her  than  when  he  had 
pled  his  cause  and  asked  her  hand.  She  believed  his  inter 
position  the  mad  impulse  of  jealousy,  and  the  harshness  of 
his  words  secretly  fed  the  fires  of  her  egotism  and,  so  to 
speak,  sensual  vanity.  There  were  dreary  hours  of  relaxing 
ambition,  abhorrence  of  every  thing  visible  and  attainable, 
when  she  was  ready  to  abandon  the  purpose  to  which  she 
had  dedicated  herself.  These  impulses  grew  upon  her  after 
Clare's  princely  marriage,  though  Lafayette  had  not  turned 


462  TRAJAN. 

out  the  facile  dupe  she  had  counted  upon.  When  the  ques 
tion  of  the  dot  was  delicately  suggested  by  Jules,  he  had 
answered  promptly  that  he  "  reckoned  that  his  wife  was  an 
American  ;  that  American  ways  were  good  enough  for  his 
mother  and  family  and  they  must  satisfy  Clare's." 

It  was  a  severe  shock  after  all  her  scheming,  but  she  bore 
it  good-humoredly,  telling  Jules  that  he  would  have  to 
be  on  his  good  behavior  with  his  brother-in-law,  as  a  means 
of  aiding  his  fortunes  in  an  emergency.  But  Jules  was  greatly 
irritated.  He  reproached  Theo  for  permitting  the  marriage, 
as,  unless  the  family  gained  in  visible  splendor  by  it,  the 
whole  town  would  laugh  at  them  for  a  vulgar  mesalliance , 
unredeemed  by  the  affluence  which  alone  excuses  such 
freaks. 

After  the  visit  to  the  Ardens',  Jules  was  advised  of  his 
opportunity,  in  Elliot's  absence,  to  gain  the  ear  of  Bella,  who 
had  always  shown  a  preference  for  him.  It  thus  came  to 
pass  that  the  young  man  was  a  frequent  guest  in  the  Rue 
Frangois  I.  He  rode  admirably,  and  Bella  never  refused  a 
gallop  to  the  Bois,  her  two  adorers  escorting  her.  Social 
observances  had  almost  ended  in  the  besieged  city  and  such 
persistence  naturally  took  an  intimate  informality. 

An  event  that  happened  one  day,  as  the  party  were  re 
turning  from  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  gave  Jules  still  better 
standing  in  Bella's  eyes.  As  the  three  dashed  out  into  the 
broad  roadway  of  the  avenue,  a  drunken  Mobile  suddenly 
lurched  from  behind  a  tree  and,  whether  by  accident  or  de 
sign,  fired  his  musket  under  the  nose  of  Bella's  horse.  The 
terrified  beast  threw  himself  back  on  his  haunches,  then, 
with  a  sideward  leap,  shot  back  toward  the  park,  into  it 
and  through  the  broad  main  road  directly  toward  the  lake. 
Jules,  with  admirable  presence  of  mind,  flew  after  the 
beast,  which  was  beyond  Bella's  management. 

Darting  into  a  cross  path  that  would  head  the  flying 
horse  just  at  the  edge  of  the  water,  he  tore  through  the 
wounding  branches  and  emerged  from  the  thicket  at  the 


TRAJAN'S  KNIGHT  TAKES  THE  KINGS  PA  WN.     463 

instant  Bella's  horse  reached  the  steep  edge  of  the  bank. 
By  a  surprising  quickness  of  movement  he  reached  out,  as 
the  horse  attempted  to  leap  past,  caught  the  bridle  and  slid 
to  the  ground,  all  at  the  same  time — halting  the  vicious 
beast  almost  on  the  edge  of  the  road. 

"  Handsomely  done  ;  I  make  you  my  felicitation,"  ex 
claimed  the  prince  who  had  followed  Bella's  horse. 

Bella  was  not  much  discomposed,  though  she  realized 
the  peril. 

"  You  have  saved  me  from  a  disagreeable  drenching  if  not 
a  broken  neck,  Mr.  Carnot,"  she  said,  as  the  grooms  of 
the  Rocher  Restaurant  led  the  horses  away. 

Bella,  as  we  have  seen,  lived  much  in  books.  Her  ad 
miration  for  Tito,  expressed  to  Elliot,  was  based  solely 
upon  the  fanciful  conditions  of  his  life.  His  cowardice, 
perversity,  and  ingratitude  she  lost  sight  of.  One  single 
evidence  of  heroism  would  have  completely  redeemed  him. 
I  think  that  at  Crecy  she  was  in  danger  of  idealizing  Trajan 
into  the  heroic  figure  of  her  dreams.  Had  Elliot's  fortune 
led  him  into  some  striking  act  of  daring,  the  love  that  she 
strove  to  repress  would  have  been  too  overmastering  for  the 
restraints  of  her  pride  and  waywardness.  I  think  she  would 
have  relished  better  the  vigorous  courtship  of  the  Norman 
duke  who  drew  his  indifferent  princess  from  her  horse  and 
dragged  her  in  the  mud,  rather  than  the  tranquil  right-of- 
possession  sort  of  love  that  had  irritated  her  in  Elliot,  until 
his  capture  by  Theo  showed  her  that  the  lover  was  right  ; 
that  her  heart  was  his,  whatever  rebellion  the  head  made. 
The  preference  of  the  prince  was  small  compensation  for 
what,  she  felt  with  despair,  she  had  deliberately  trifled  away. 
There  were  moments  of  anguish  and  self-reproach  when  she 
would  have  abased  herself  to  letting  Elliot  see  her  repent 
ance,  but  torments  like  these  were  in  the  silence  of  the  night 
when  the  distractions  of  nature  could  not  save  her  from  the 
brooding  thought  of  her  folly. 

Though  she  encouraged  Jules'   friendliness,  she    did  it 


464  TRAJAN. 

without  dreaming  of  his  purpose.  Indeed,  the  very  absence 
of  such  a  suspicion  made  her  intercourse  more  kindly,  and 
encouraged  Jules  into  the  unwarranted  belief  that  he  was 
gaining  his  end.  Much  of  the  old  assertion  had  left  Bella 
since  the  early  Crecy  days,  and  the  growing  anxiety  at 
Elliot's  silence,  while  an  affliction  to  the  family,  was  a  misery 
to  her  that  only  one  other  in  the  household  suspected.  Kate 
had  never  been  deceived.  She  had  watched  Bella  from 
babyhood  and  learned  her  nature,  better  even  than  the 
mother.  She  knew  that  the  cousins  were  lovers  almost  from 
the  hour  they  met  after  childhood. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

A     MASQUE     OF     CUPID. 

NOW  sunshine  bathes  mountain  and  valley  ;  our  banners 
are  flung  to  summer  breezes  ;  joy  is  our  herald  and 
contentment  our  arbiter  ;  the  heavens  of  our  friends  are 
hung  in  rose  and  amethyst  ;  the  bulbul  chants  on  the  house 
hold  lintel  ;  Aphrodite  leads  in  the  lunar  group  that  dots  the 
canopy  ;  we  are  pavilioned  in  peace,  and  gladness  is  the  one 
chord  in  the  harp  of  life.  That  is  to  say,  our  little  stage  is  set 
for  a  feast  ;  our  various  players,  harbored  in  happiness,  for  the 
present,  at  least,  echo  only  the  jocund  strains  of  life's  gamut. 
On  a  fine  morning,  before  the  filmy  frosts  of  the  early  Octo 
ber  were  drunken  by  the  thirsty  sunbeams,  Trajan,  eager  and 
triumphant,  sounded  a  lusty  peal  at  the  mansion  in  the  Rue 
Fran9ois  I.  Mrs.  Arden,  pale,  wan  and  despairing,  met 
him  in  the  drawing-room  with  a  little  scream  of  wonder, 
not  wholly  terror,  as  he  held  out  a  letter  addressed  in  a  well" 
known  hand  to  herself  ;  but,  too  impatient  to  let  her  learn 
from  the  sheet,  Trajan  anticipated  the  contents  ;  "  Elliot  is 
in  London,"  and  he  threw  up  his  hat  and  moved  his  avail 
able  glove,  quite  as  if  he  were  alone  the  recipient  of  the 


A  MASQUE  OF  CUPID.  465 

joyful  assurance.  The  poor  mother's  eyes  were  dim,  and 
she  couldn't  for  a  moment  do  any  thing  but  look  tremu 
lously  at  the  characters  on  the  letter. 

"Call  Edith,  Trajan,  please,"  she  cried,  and  fluttered  into 
a  corner  to  hug  the  precious  sheets  as  she  opened  them. 
"  Dear  me,  what  a  long  letter !  I  can  never  get  through  it." 
But  she  was  making  great  progress  when  the  startled  Edith, 
presently  followed  by  Bella,  Kate,  and  last  of  all  Mrs.  Bris- 
coe,  came  in  arrayed  in  the  peignoirs  that  ladies  adorn 
themselves  in  of  a  morning.  The  good  news  told  itself  on 
the  faces  of  Trajan  and  Mrs.  Arden,  and  the  volleys  of 
questions  were  suspended,  while  Edith,  with  a  passing  smile 
at  Trajan  which  finished  the  remaining  sense  of  decorum  in 
that  young  man's  possession  at  the  moment,  gently  but  im 
periously  took  the  precious  letter,  and  beginning  at  the, 
"  Dearest  Mother,"  read  the  closely-written  pages  through. 
He  had  arrived  in  London  that  night,  and  hastened  to  relieve 
the  anxiety  they  must  feel.  He  feared  he  could  get  no  word 
to  them,  but  had  been  assured  that  the  British  Minister 
would  forward  the  letter  from  Versailles  to  Paris  by  a  flag 
of  truce  to  Crecy.  Then,  after  a  vigorous  summing  up  of 
the  scenes  at  Les  Charmettes,  and  his  arrest  and  imprison 
ment  in  Meaux,  he  told  of  the  startling  event  in  the  Meaux 
prison — how  some  one  had  slipped  in,  given  him  a  peasant's 
suit,  put  him  at  the  threshold  of  freedom  and  disappeared  ; 
that,  as  the  unknown  had  spoken  in  the  German  tongue,  he 
could  think  of  no  one  but  Jules  Carnot  risking  so  much  for 
him — at  which  point  there  was  an  indignant  toss  of  Some 
body's  head  and  a  general  murmur  of  amusement. 

"  I  got  on  the  train  at  Colombes,  a  little  station  not  eight 
miles  north  of  the  city,  and  here  I  am,  sound  and  safe,  and 
in  such  good  spirits  as  a  man  can  be  who  is  kept  from  his 
mother,  his  Edith,  and  his  other  valued  friends  and  kin. 
Now  as  I  dare  not  go  back  to  Crecy  and  you  can  not  get  to 
Paris,  I  suggest  that  you  pack  up  at  once  and  come  to  me 
here.  There's  no  telling  how  long  the  siege  will  last.  We 


466  TRAJAN. 

can  go  to  Rome  for  the  winter  and  wait  events.  Don't  fail 
to  let  me  know  the  name  of  the  chap  that  got  me  out  of  the 
Prussian  claws. 

"  If  you  love  me,  and  I  sometimes  flatter  myself  you  do, 
you  will  do  him  such  homage  as  such  intrepidity  deserves,  no 
matter  what  his  rank,  surroundings,  or  previous  condition  of 
servitude.  I'll  stake  my  head  it  was  Carnot,  who  is  brave 
as  a  lion,  and  I  shall  not  be  sorry  to  learn  that  it  is  to  him  I 
owe  my  life,  for  from  what  I  see  in  the  daily  journals  these 
Prussians  are  reviving  the  fine  old  methods  that  the  first 
Bonaparte  broke  up,  in  the  days  of  that  political  abomina 
tion,  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  and  I  should  have  been  either 
shot,  or  sent  like  Silvio  Pellico  and  Lafayette,  to  a  German 
cachot,  to  wait  the  good  pleasure  of  fellows  whose  pleasure 
is  mankind's  pain.  This  sentiment  would  delight  the  heart 
of  that  noblest  Roman  of  them  all,  Trajan,  whom  I  see  in 
my  mind's  eye  carrying  a  musket  and  raging  like  the  lion  he 
is  over  the  defeats  of  his  beloved  French,  partly  consoled, 
I've  no  doubt,  by  the  gourd-like  Republic  that  has  arisen  in 
the  nation's  night,  to  wither  with  the  rise  of  its  sun.  My 
love  to  him,  with  grace,  penitence  and  peace." 

There  were  tender  afterthoughts  which  need  not  be 
repeated.  They  gave  great  comfort  to  the  family,  who  were 
for  the  first  time  made  acquainted  with  Trajan's  startling 
strategy  in  the  liberation  of  the  prisoner.  He  had  allowed 
them  to  suppose  that  it  was  effected  by  a  diplomatic  ruse. 
Edith,  you  may  be  sure,  was  very  proud  and  happy  when 
Mrs.  Arden,  going  over  to  the  abashed  hero,  drew  his  hand 
some  face  up  and  kissed  him  sweetly,  leaving  the  mother's 
benediction  to  tell  what  the  grateful  mother's  lips  did  not 
.dare  trust  themselves  to  say. 

"  You  are  henceforth  my  son,  our  home  is  your  home, 
if  you  will  have  it  so.  The  feeling  has  long  been  in  my 
heart.  I  think  this  justifies  me  in  saying  it.  Let  a  happy 
mother  feel  that  such  devotion  as  yours  is  not  wholly  beyond 
her  power  to  answer  in  kind,  be  it  ever  so  small." 


A  MASQUE  OF  CUPID.  467 

Trajan's  eyes,  which  were  noted  for  looking  the  person 
addressing  him  in  the  face,  were  averted,  and  by  a  strange 
chance,  as  they  wandered  over  Mrs.  Arden's  shoulder  fell 
upon  two  bright  eyes,  swimming  in  tears.  By  a  monstrous 
perversion  of  conversational  equity,  it  was  to  these  eyes  he 
seemed  to  speak  when  he  said,  with  a  totally  gratuitous 
vagueness : 

"  Elliot  is  dearer  to  me  than  the  life  he  saved,  and  your 
over-appreciation  robs  me  of  the  only  merit  of  a  duty  gladly 
done.  I — I — but  don't  let  us  talk  about  that." 

"  And  pray,  Mr.  Modesty,  do  our  similar  sentiments, 
almost  similarly  expressed,  rob  you  of  your  transcendental 
reward  in  saving  my  life  ?  You  must  take  into  account  that 
you  have  been  doing  the  rescue  by  wholesale  in  the  Arden 
family,  and  that  in  our  miserable  opulence  we  can't  get  the 
chance  to  play  Bayards  to  our  friends." 

"  But  who  knows  how  soon  you  may  prove  a  Jeanne  d'Arc, 
Bella,"  retorted  Trajan,  giving  her  a  glance  of  gratitude 
for  the  timely  diversion. 

"  Very  good,  but  there's  no  Talbot  for  me  to  conquer,  no 
king  to  crown,  no — 

"  Why  not  take  the  prince  ? "  asked  Kate  maliciously. 
"  He  is  of  the  lineal  caste." 

"  I  think,  Kate,  you  must  have  been  born  with  venom  on 
your  tongue,  as  the  Plantagenet  was  with  teeth  in  his  jaws. 
Your  contributions  to  current  conversation  are  like  the 
alkalies  in  a  crucible,  both  dissolvent  and  astringent,"  and 
Bella  looked  half  angry,  half  abashed,  at  the  imperturbable 
spinster. 

"  If  you  can  tell  a  man  by  the  books  he  reads,  I  can  tell 
the  last  volume  Bella's  been  browsing  in  without  looking  at 
the  Bunsen  lying  on  her  table,"  and  Kate  laughed  compla 
cently  as  one  who  has  drawn  the  enemy's  last  shot  and  has 
a  reserve  still. 

"Well,  Trajan,  it's  settled  that  you  are  to  be  the  protector 
of  this  bereaved  family  until  the  outlawed  prince  comes  to 


468  TRAJAN, 

his  own,"  interposed  Mrs.  Briscoe,  dreading  Bella's  sharp 
sallies  under  Kate's  pungent  teasing. 

"Which  prince?  as  one  should  say  under  which  king, 
Bezonian,"  asked  Kate,  as  if  determined  to  continue  the 
dangerous  theme. 

"  You  are  an  unbearable  mischief-maker,  Kate  dear,"  Mrs. 
Arden  remonstrated  placidly.  "  Do  let  Bella  enjoy  her 
science  and  her  vagaries  ;  what  harm  is  there  in  them  ?  I'm 
sure  I  wish  the  indolent  Edith  would  take  half  the  trouble 
to  store  her  mind,"  and  she  looked  any  thing  but  discon 
tented  as  that  traduced  young  person  smiled  in  agree 
able  deprecation  at  Trajan,  who  had  taken  his  place  at  the 
piano,  where  presently  Edith,  intent  upon  convincing  him  of 
the  superior  beauty  of  a  melody  of  Ambroise  Thomas's  to 
his  favorite  Lohengrin,  found  the  greatest  difficulty  in  lay 
ing  her  hand  on  the  sheet,  which  she  was  positive  she  had 
been  practicing  the  last  thing  the  evening  before.  Both  of 
them  blushed  with  guilty  consciousness  when  Bella,  coming 
over,  laid  her  hand  on  the  music,  lying  almost  the  first  in 
the  book. 

"  Trajan,  you  will  stay  to  breakfast  ;  and  remember  we 
shall  be  much  mortified  if  you  make  the  slightest  pretense 
of  acting  as  a  stranger  in  this  house."  Saying  this,  Mrs. 
Arden  left  the  room,  taking  Elliot's  letter,  to  read  by  her 
self,  as  fond  mothers  are  in  the  habit  of  doing,  over  and 
over  again,  until  the  fragile  pages  grow  dim  under  the  secret 
tears  and  rapture.  I  venture  to  believe  she  found  as  much 
joy  in  those  boyish  exuberances  as  two  of  the  people  in  the 
drawing-room  who  sillily  thought  the  whole  world  came 
to  an  apex,  and  the  point  of  it  was  under  their  feet,  giving 
them  the  ambrosial  clouds  to  breathe  in,  as  we  are  told 
Jupiter  of  old  entertained  his  newest  love  before  Christianity 
had  come  to  decree  the  exile  of  the  gods.  Never  did  the 
tide  of  love  run  so  smoothly.  Trajan  was  terrified,  with 
something  of  the  fatalistic  creed  of  the  Persian  lingering  in 
him,  "  When  the  house  is  finished,  Death  comes  to  occupy  it." 


A  MASQUE  OF  CUPID.  469 

He  didn't  know  whether  Mrs.  Arden  suspected  the  tie  that 
had  knotted  the  two  hearts.  He  knew  that  Bella  was  aware 
of  his  rapture,  and  he  could  not  fail  to  see  that  Kate  not 
only  knew,  but  was  a  strong  partisan.  He  was  not  ready  yet 
to  speak,  for  he  hoped  to  win  name  and  fame  before  asking 
the  consent  of  the  family.  Edith's  had  been  given  already. 

It  is  simply  miraculous  how  these  opportunities  occur.  In 
the  memoranda  from  which  this  history  is  traced,  I  find  no 
mention  of  the  formal  declaration.  To  be  sure  the  letter 
left  at  Les  Charmettes  told  the  story,  but  I  come  across 
nothing  in  which  Edith  says  any  thing  on  the  subject.  The 
fortnight  of  uncertainty  enveloping  Elliot's  existence  would 
be,  it  seems  to  me,  too  anxious  a  time  to  talk  of  love,  but 
Kate,  when  asked  about  it,  replied  with  unnecessary 
asperity  : 

"  Ye  must  be  a  puir  daft  auld  body  not  to  know  that  there's 
no  much  talk  and  yeaing  and  naying  in  matters  of  that  sort. 
Why,  mon,  the  lass  just  adored  th'  brave  lad  fra  th'  day  her 
brither  tould  the  goold  in  him.  It's  no  th'  word  that 
tells  sic  thing  as  luv  no  more  than  bletherin'  prayers  that 
maks  the  Christian  comfortable." 

While  the  trio  stood  at  the  piano  a  messenger  arrived  from 
the  ministry  with  a  packet  for  Mrs.  Arden.  It  was  like 
wise  in  Elliot's  hand,  and  contained  letters  addressed  to 
Theo,  Bella  and  Edith. 

"  Jezebel  'ill  find  cauld  comfort  in  the  news,"  cried  Kate  as 
the  letters  were  laid  out  and  Theo's  despatched  by  a  servant. 
"  She'll  ha'  her  papist  dukes  and  counts  to  console  her,  an' 
she'll  no  miss  him  long,  I'll  warrant." 

An  hour  or  two  later  Theo  came  with  her  letter,  not 
knowing  whether  the  family  had  received  the  news.  She 
took  out  the  epistle  and  Kate  remarked  that  it  filled  but 
three  note  sheets.  She  smiled  grimly  at  the  discovery. 

"  Who  could  his  unknown  friend  be  ?  "  asked  Theo  when 
she  found  her  news  known.  "  I  suppose  some  one  sent  by 
the  minister.  Such  daring  deserves  boundless  admiration." 


47°  TRAJAN. 

"  I  think  the  man  has  gotten  the  reward  that  men  of  a 
certain  sort  hold  best,"  insinuated  Bella,  glancing  casually 
at  Trajan.  "  Indeed,  Theo,  "  she  added  solemnly,  "  I  think 
that,  manlike,  he  had  exatted  his  reward  in  advance." 

"  What  an  ignoble  fellow.  I'm  just  as  glad  not  to  know 
such  a  creature,"  said  Theo,  shocked  at  the  baseness  of 
the  mercenary  unknown.  "  It  will  please  Elliot  all  the 
better,  for  to  such  an  one  the  obligation  is  discharged 
with  ready  money  ;  while  had  it  been  a  gentleman,  a  life 
time  could  not  have  given  opportunities  to  attest  his  feel 
ing."  And  Theo  regarded  the  group  with  such  an  air  as 
Chrysostom  might  have  worn  when  he  illustrated  the  true 
life  by  revealing  his  own  constancy  and  abnegation. 

Trajan  coincided  very  gravely  in  Theo's  homily,  to  the 
no  small  amusement  of  the  audience,  who  had  been 
charged  by  that  diplomate  to  make  no  mention  of  his 
handiwork  in  the  rescue  of  Elliot.  Theo  felt  that  she  had 
committed  an  error,  by  the  thinly-concealed  jocosity  with 
which  her  sally  had  been  received,  though  far  from  suspect 
ing  the  cause.  Her  senses  were  quick  as  a  dormouse  to  the 
mere  vibration  of  doubt  or  hostility  in  the  air,  and  realizing 
that  she  was  the  victim  of  some  mystification,  like  a  cau 
tious  mariner  in  an  unknown  channel,  she  drew  in  sail 
and  dropped  her  anchor  in  the  waters  of  silence.  Mrs. 
Arden  could  not  understand  Trajan's  motive  for  preserving 
secrecy  on  the  subject,  but  Edith  and  Kate  were  by  no 
means  in  the  dark.  He  did  not  mean  to-exact  from  Elliot's 
gratitude  what  he  knew  must  come  sooner  or  later  through 
repentance  and  contrition. 

At  the  dejeuner  a  la  fourchette,  Mrs.  Arden,  who  had  again 
read  Elliot's  anabasis,  as  Bella  christened  the  letter  in  her 
merry  pedantry,  and  who  secretly  thought  the  adventures 
more  wonderful  than  Xenophon's  story,  returned  to  her  hos 
pitable  intent  concerning  Trajan.  He  must  join  Philip  in 
guarding  the  family  deprived  of  its  natural  protector,  and 
should  use  a  room  in  the  house  to  paint,  instead  of  hiding 


A  MASQUE  OF  CUP  ID.  471 

himself  from  them  in  the  Latin  Quarter — at  least  until  they 
could  make  the  necessary  preparations  to  rejoin  Elliot  in  Lon 
don,  whither  he  was  cordially  urged  to  accompany  them  and 
thence  to  Rome  for  the  winter;  But  Trajan  declined  to 
quit  his  garret,  where,  as  he  said  humorously,  his  family  were 
already  in  a  state  of  revolt  at  his  frequent  absences.  Where 
upon  the  invitation  was  extended  to  Madame  Betty  and  the 
frisky  Trip. 

But  protesting  that  his  ties  were  too  intimate  and  ten 
der  to  permit  of  removing  wholly  from  the  Rue  Dragon, 
Trajan  compromised  with  the  kind  lady,  by  binding  himself 
to  renew  the  life  begun  at  Crecy  and  disastrously  interrupted 
almost  so  soon  as  begun.  It  happened  to  be  Saturday,  and 
the  young  ladies,  desirous  of  penetrating  the  mysteries  of 
the  studio,  old  and  young  set  out  for  that  aerial  temple, 
thereby  depriving  Jules  of  his  accustomed  tete-a-tete  and 
ride  with  the  coveted  heiress,  and  as  a  consequence  arousing 
Theo  to  the  execution  of  more  decisive  measures  in  that 
game  in  which,  though  she  knew  she  held  all  the  arms 
against  helpless  adversaries,  she  distrusted  time  and  delay  as 
her  secret  antagonists.  Trajan  had  arranged  with  the  head 
of  Amedee's  school  that  the  small  boy  should  spend  every 
Saturday  afternoon  either  with  himself  or  Madame  Agay. 

It  was  while  his  visitors  were  in  the  studio  that  the  child 
was  brought  in  and  with  a  cry  of  joy  leaped  into  the  arms  of 
his  blushing  and  embarrassed  guardian.  They  all  admired 
the  little  fellow's  charming  face  and  fondling,  pretty  ways, 
and  learned  his  story  with  interest.  The  impulsive  Edith 
proposed  that  he  should  be  taken  home,  instead  of  languish 
ing  with  strangers,  and  Trajan  thought  the  idea  an  excellent 
one.  It  was  agreed  that  he  should  make  a  holiday  visit  only 
for  the  present,  and  when  the  ladies  drove  home  the  happy 
child  sobbed  with  joy  and  wound  his  little  arms  around 
Edith's  neck,  being  assured  that  he  should  go  only  a  short 
time  longer  to  the  grim  tabernacle  of  learning  where  he  had 
been  miserable  and  lonely. 


472  TRAJAN. 

All  the  world  loves  a  lover  ;  never  were  the  fellows  in  the 
Beaux  Arts  so  drawn  to  Trajan  as  in  these  halcyon  days. 
Eyes  far  less  keen  and  hearts  far  less  kindly  than  the  merry 
godless  rogues  of  the  quarter  could  have  read  the  lad's  secret. 
He  was  joked  now  and  then  on  his  felicity,  but  never  to  the 
extent  of  embarrassing  him.  Many  a  flowing  bumper  of  the 
liquid  sunshine  of  the  valleys  of  Champaigne  was  employed 
to  divert  the  merry  company  at  Madame  Bonjean's  from  the 
delicate  topic.  The  little  hostel  became  the  rendezvous  of 
the  foreigners  in  the  university  during  the  first  months  of 
the  siege,  when  food  daily  grew  dearer  in  the  more  fashion 
able  quarters.  For,  conservative  in  every  thing,  prices 
remained  in  the  Latin  Pays  as  primitive  as  the  architecture  and 
the  life. 

There  was  an  incredible  expansiveness  in  Trajan,  under 
the  benign  radiance  of  his  new  love.  That  droll  wag 
Malloy,  the  wit  of  the  ateliers,  declared  that  the  "  black 
divil  had  faded  out  of  Gray's  oies  and  the  merry  brown  of 
the  thrue  lover  had  taken  its  pleece,"  and  odd  as  it  was,  it 
seemed  to  be  true.  The  eye  is  like  the  color  in  plants  ;  it 
changes  under  differing  conditions.  The  lack-luster  black 
of  the  big  orbs  had  suffered  a  change — into  something  soft 
and  genial,  and  you  would  never  recognize  the  hilarious 
rogue  sharing  the  witticisms  among  the  Beaux  Arts  fellows, 
during  those  ambrosial  October  days,  as  the  almost  sinister 
young  Werther  we  studied  so  curiously  that  day  long  ago, 
when  love  laid  down  the  harp  of  life,  and  the  heart  strings 
cracked  with  impulsive  despair,  while  the  bells  of  reason 
jangled  out  of  tune  !  Rarely  had  he  done  such  good  work 
the  fellows  declared.  His  "  composition  "  was  the  wonder 
of  his  comrades  and  his  execution  the  delight  of  the  masters. 

He  had  painted  a  prodigious  canvas  for  the  Grovels,  of 
the  lawn  and  brook  at  Crecy,  to  be  hung  up  in  the  mansion 
at  Yahoo  Gulch,  to  commemorate  that  episode  of  the  family 
grandeur.  He  had  orders  that  turned  the  hearts  of  the  mas 
ters  en  vogue,  green  .with  envy.  His  portraits  of  the  favored 


A  MASQUE  OF  CUPID.  473 

few  in  the  "  colony  "  who  had  precedence  in  time,  were  com 
pared  to  Bonnat's.  It  was  from  some  exquisite  miniature 
sketches  of  the  combats  about  Metz,  that  the  celebrated  De 
Neuville  caught  the  idea  of  the  surprising  series  of  canvases 
that  almost  consoles  the  bleeding  hearts  of  the  French  peo 
ple  for  their  awful  disasters — embalming  as  they  do  the  his 
toric  courage  of  that  gallant  nation.  Under  the  stimulus  of 
his  new  mood,  the  sketch  we  once  saw  in  surreptitious  exe 
cution  at  Crecy,  grew  into  a  thing  of  such  beauty  that  the 
enchanted  lover,  like  another  Parrhassius,  kept  the  wondrous 
vision  curtained  in  the  studio  many  a  day  after  it  was  ready 
for  the  surprise  he  meditated.  That  canvas,  you  may  be 
sure,  was  never  shown  the  fellows.  Beyond  Betty,  Trip  and 
Amedee,  who  wouldn't  forego  his  Saturday  visits  to  his  three 
friends,  the  blue  eyes  on  that  bit  of  canvas  were  never  seen, 
until  on  a  certain  day,  Kate  and  Edith  coming  unexpectedly 
while  the  painter  was  out  of  the  room,  caught  the  radiant 
vision  filling  the  dreamy  atmosphere  with  the  perfume  of 
its  beauty — the  subtle  odor  of  its  love  lines. 

When  the  culprit  entered  and  found  "  Somebody  "  face  to 
face  with  a  rival  who  had  been  sharing  the  traitor's  heart — 
there  was  the  prettiest  little  scene  of  jealous  indignation  ever 
seen.  Betty  blinked  in  surprise  at  the  dmouement,  for  there 
was  the  absurdest  little  gurgle  of  rapture  and  then — such  silly 
kissing  as  made  Kate  quite  speechless.  Betty  purred  in  vig 
orous  denunciation  and  Trip  yelped  with  irrepressible  aston 
ishment  and  disapproval  at  such  desecration  of  the  Platonic 
ministrations  of  that  sanctuary.  This,  however,  was  one  of 
the  mischiefs  easily  mended,  and  on  agreeing  that  the  picture 
should  instantly  be  sent  to  the  Rue  Fran£ois  I.,  Edith 
promised  entire  forgiveness,  ostentatiously  sealing  the  self- 
imposed  and  self-ratified  compact  with  another  kiss,  which 
wholly  exhausted  Kate's  patience  ;  who  expressed  her  sur 
prise  that  "  the  addle-headed  fellow  had  a  grain  of  sense 
left  with  such  goings  on  ; "  and  Trajan  quite  agreed  with  her, 
declaring  it  an  ungenerous  advantage  to  take  of  him. 


474  TRAJAN. 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that,  sir  ? "  Edith  asked  with 
arching  eyebrows  and  the  most  adorable  pout  in  the  world. 

"  Kissing  goes  by  favor,  mademoiselle,  and  here  you've 
despoiled  me  of  all  that  makes  the  atelier  habitable,  and  pay 
me  in  what  after  all  is  really  my  due." 

"  Presumptuous  ingrate,  you  shall  never — never — " 

"  There  don't  make  a  simpleton  o'  yer'sels,  ye'll  be  cooing 
at  him  in  two  minutes  again  and  daring  him  to  do  what  ye 
know  verra  weel  ye're  always  ready  to  do,  so  keep  ye're  little 
silly  play-acting  for  yer  two  silly  sel's,  and  let  me  think  I'm 
in  the  company  of  sane  folk,  not  ejiots,"  and  Kate  made 
ready  to  quit  the  scene  of  such  frivolous  behaviors.  There 
upon  "  Somebody  "  declared  laughing  that  Kate  was  jealous 
because  her  face  had  not  been  found  on  the  easel,  and  Tra 
jan,  to  mollify  her,  promised  that  he  would  paint  her  with 
John  Knox  in  the  background,  hurling  anathemas  at  the 
wicked  queen  of  Scots. 

"  Yer  a  graceless  set — ye  have  no  river'nce  for  any  thing 
sacred,"  cried  the  spinster. 

"  Cats  may  look  at  kings  and  painters  do  put  saints  on 
canvas,  Kate,  so  I  don't  desecrate  in  touching  up  even  that 
sacred  visage,"  said  Trajan,  as  though  taking  the  protest  in 
earnest.  But  Kate  had  exhausted  her  wrath,  and  the  two 
tyrants  besetting  the  reluctant  lover,  the  portrait  was  carried 
down  to  the  carriage  and  the  painter  led  in  triumph  with 
his  master-piece  to  the  Rue  Fran£ois  I.  The  work  was  not 
a  complete  surprise  to  the  household.  Bella  let  fall  certain 
notes  of  admiration  which  indicated  that  she  had  suspected 
the  progress  of  the  plot.  Mrs.  Arden,  however,  was  grati- 
fyingly  astonished  and  lamented  the  absence  of  Elliot's  criti 
cal  judgment  to  pronounce  the  receptive  benediction. 

The  gentle  mother  looked  from  the  painter  to  her  daughter 
in  benign  wonder,  and  for  the  first  time  a  suspicion  of  the 
relations  of  the  two  dawned  on  her.  It  would  have  needed 
no  sharp  powers  of  divination  to  tell  the  secret  that  gave 
the  eyes  of  the  real  Edith  a  certain  expression  which  all  the 


A  MASQUE  OF  CUPID.  475 

painter's  art  could  not  catch.  With  a  gentle  flutter,  the 
daughter  threw  herself  into  the  maternal  arms,  and  the 
painter,  a  little  surprised,  recompensed  himself  by  gazing 
into  the  tender  counterfeits  of  the  eyes  buried  on  mamma's 
bosom.  In  the  mute  maternal  acknowledgment,  he  was 
smitten  with  the  vague  doubt  of  too  complete,  too  perfect 
happiness. 

He  held  his  breath  wondering  what  form  fate  would  take 
to  halt  his  step  upon  the  threshold  of  his  Paradise.  "  Who 
enters  here  leaves  hope  behind,"  was  a  sentiment  that  shad 
owed  his  effort,  since  he  could  remember.  That  he  should 
have  strayed  along  a  pleasant  path,  reached  out  and  plucked 
this  rare  blossom,  filled  him  with  a  nameless  terror.  I  doubt 
whether  the  man  ever  existed  who  really  believed  any  thing 
he  desired  too  good  for  him  ;  it  could  not  therefore  be  the 
sentiment  of  unworthiness  that  filled  the  young  man's  heart 
with  uneasiness  and  distrust.  It  was  rather  the  feeling  of  a 
kingly  heir,  who  suddenly  sees,  by  a  succession  of  deaths, 
not  only  rank  and  riches,  but  great  crowns,  descending  upon 
him — and  until  he  possesses  them,  dim,  dreadful,  threatening 
as  the  air-drawn  daggers  of  the  usurper's  frenzy.-  Relatively 
Trajan  knew  that  he  had  no  deserving  in  the  crown  awarded 
him.  It  was  an  obtrusion  of  the  fatalist  doubt,  rather  than 
the  moralist  spirit,  upon  which  his  dread  was  based. 

It  was  while  the  picture  stood  on  the  easel,  the  center  of 
the  family  devotions,  that  Theo,  who  "  ran  in  "  familiarly 
every  day,  on  one  pretext  or  another,  came  to  join  the  wor 
shipers.  She  looked  with  arch  good-humor  at  Edith,  as 
the  wonderful  canvas  was  presented,  and  declared  that  the 
artist  in  producing  a  chef  fauvre  had  wisely  attempted  no 
flattery.  "  Now  in  my  case,"  she  continued  with  engaging 
frankness,  "  while  I  admit  that  Mr.  Gray  produced  a  work  fit 
for  the  Louvre,  I  am  not  silly  enough  to  suppose  that  the 
portrait  is  not  purely  ideal.  Confess,  Mr.  Gray.  Isn't  it 
true  ? " 

Trajan  laughed  :    "  I  was  in  the  clouds  about  that  time — 


47  6  TRAJAtf. 

but  Miss  Carnot  needs  no  idealism  to  make  her  portrait  a 
very  striking  one,  and  if  I  had  it  to  do  over  again — while  in 
some  respects  it  might  be  modified — I  think  I  could  give  it 
certain  touches  which  would  make  it  more  faithful  to  the 
original  ! 

"Fie,  Mr.  Gray,"  spoke  up  Bella,  "you  should  never  be 
caught  in  so  shallow  a  trap  as  that.  No  woman  ever  found 
flattery  painted  or  spoken — a  blemish.  Tell  an  old  woman  she 
is  young,  and  though  you  may  not  be  believed,  you  will  be 
adored  ;  tell  an  ugly  one  she  is  pretty,  with  the  reservation 
that  she  is  not  wise,  and  she  will  give  you  reputation  as  a 
man  of  discernment  ;  tell  a  wicked,  silly,  heartless  gad 
about,  that  she  is  all  these,  but  that  her  form  is  perfect,  her 
face  fair,  and  she  will  enshrine  you." 

"  And  pray,  Bella — to  gain  your  good  graces — you,  who 
are  beautiful,  wise,  fine  in  form  and  all  that  it  does  not  need 
the  fancy  to  create,  what  must  a  man  say  to  you  to  win  your 
favor,  for  I  know  one  that  would  give  much  for  the  secret," 
said  Theo,  turning  Bella's  commonplaces  to  dextrous 
account. 

Bella  laughed  and  blushed.  "  That's  a  secret  ;  when  the 
right  one  comes  he  will  find  out  for  himself." 

"  But  if  your  theory  be  the  true  one,"  said  Trajan  reflect 
ively,  "women  are  won  by  lies." 

"  That's  very  like  th'  sense  o'  it,"  interjected  Kate  plumply. 

"  Well  the  Persian  proverb  holds,  clouds  lighter  than  snow, 
wind  lighter  than  air,  the  air  lighter  than  a  feather,  and 
women  lighter  than  all  ;  why  not  a  lie,  the  lightest  of  the 
things  of  the  breath,  the  most  potent  with  such  beings  "- 
Philip  asked,  seeming  to  expect  an  answer  from  the  portrait, 
at  which  he  stared  very  hard. 

"  Every  nation  makes  proverbs  according  to  its  kind,  sir. 
Persian  women  may  have  justified  that  summing  up  of  the 
collective  wisdom  of  their  men,  but  the  sentiment  is  too 
Pagan  to  apply  to  that  part  of  the  modern  world  which  alone 
holds  man  from  his  barbarian  instincts." 


A  MASQUE  OF  CUPID.  477 

This  was  Theo's  contribution  to  the  discussion,  which  was 
brought  to  an  end  by  the  entrance  of  Jules,  who  had  great 
news  to  tell.  Thiers  had  gone  on  a  mission  to  the  foreign 
courts  and  it  was  believed  at  the  minister's  that  England  was 
about  to  intervene  and  bring  the  invasion  to  a  close.  Gam- 
betta  was  to  set  out  for  Tours  the  next  day  by  balloon  and  aid 
in  arming  and  organizing  the  departments,  and  the  Germans 
had  refused  to  permit  any  more  exits  from  the  beleaguered 
city,  hoping  by  detaining  non-combatants  to  starve  Paris  into 
surrender  before  the  foreign  powers  could  be  talked  over  by 
the  golden-tongued  old  emissary.  Furthermore,  he  informed 
Trajan  that  by  Favre's  direction  he  had  written  him,  Trajan, 
a  note  two  hours  before  and  sent  it  to  the  studio,  requesting 
him  to  attend  at  the  Quai  d'Orsai  where  the  minister  had 
something  to  propose  to  the  young  attache.  Jules  had  no  idea 
of  the  nature  of  the  service,  but  every  body  begged  the  young 
man  not  to  undertake  any  more  adventures.  Trajan,  a  good 
deal  disconcerted,  quit  the  room  and  as  he  reached  the  vesti 
bule,  Edith,  who  had  slipped  out  by  another  door  when 
his  intention  of  going  became  apparent,  fluttered  to  him  with 
swimming  eyes  and  a  little  appealing  cry.  The  sagacious 
Pierre,  lingering  casually  in  the  vestibule,  found  instant 
occasion  to  visit  the  dining  room  and  the  lovers  were 
alone. 

"  Promise  me — "  "  Somebody  "  said,  with  lips  almost  too 
near  certain  other  lips — which,  in  fact,  they  had  just  quit. 
"  Promise  me,  that  you  won't  go  from  the  city,  you  won't 
risk  your  life  any  more  for  these  stranger  people — 

"  But  what  difference  would  it  make — who'd  care  ?  "  asked 
the  young  hypocrite  shamelessly,  and  strange  enough,  though 
there  wasn't  a  syllable  in  reply,  as  Madelaine  at  the  crack  of 
the  door  could  have  sworn,  the  doubts  of  the  questioner 
seemed  satisfied,  for  he  made  answer  : 

"  By  these  lips  I  promise — not  to  leave  Paris,  by  the  over 
head  or  underground  route,  and  as  for  any  other — foolish 
maiden,  I  couldn't  if  I  would  !  " 


47 8  TRAJAN. 

Love  must  be  inconsistent  with  the  delicacies  of  diplo 
macy,  for  Favre,  who  had  formed  a  very  high  estimate  of 
his  protege  s  intelligence,  found  him  singularly  dense  and 
unreceptive,  and  after  unfolding  various  projects  that  were 
to  render  his  name  immortal,  dismissed  him  with  some 
impatience,  informing  him  that  it  was  his  colleague  the  dep 
uty  of  war,  Gambetta,  that  wanted  to  see  him.  That  busy 
statesman  was  in  the  war  office  in  the  Rue  Dominic — the 
great  palace  of  the  war  minister,  where  in  other  days  only  the 
elite  of  the  military  hierarchy  found  reception,  and  like 
every  thing  else  curiously  changed  in  aspect  under  the  demo 
cratic  regime  of  revolution.  The  wide  corridors  were 
crowded  with  flying  figures,  the  bureaus  packed  with  vocif 
erating  officials.  Even  the  " Cabinet"  of  the  ministers  was 
invaded  by  the  Cromvvells,  guiltless  of  their  country's  blood, 
imploring  a  hearing  for  vast  projects  that  were  to  dissolve 
the  beleaguering  hosts  of  the  Germans  into  thin  air. 

Trajan  recognized  only  the  specter  of  the  leonine  orator  of 
the  quarter  in  his  old  friend,  when  after  infinite  delays  he  pen 
etrated  to  the  desk  where  Gambetta  sat  signing  papers,  listen 
ing  to  reports,  deciding  questions  and  dismissing  agents, 
with  all  the  precision  and  swiftness  of  a  man  reared  in 
affairs.  He  retired  with  the  American  to  an  inner  closet, 
and  spoke  rapidly.  The  services  Trajan  had  rendered,  and 
his  daring  in  critical  crises,  had  inspired  a  wish  to  have 
him  at  Tours,  where  armies  were  to  be  raised.  But  he 
didn't  dare  to  risk  too  many  in  the  balloon.  It  would  be 
necessary  to  communicate  with  Paris  from  time  to  time.  It 
was  a  perilous  work,  and  would  become  still  more  dangerous 
as  the  German  investment  drew  closer.  He  had  pledged 
himself  that  Trajan  would  act  as  a  confidential  messenger  to 
Tours  after  his,  Gambetta's,  departure.  It  might  not  be  for 
a  week,  a  fortnight,  or  a  month,  but  he  would  feel  secure  if 
Trajan  agreed  to  undertake  the  journey  !  Under  such  cir 
cumstances,  though  hampered  by  his  promise,  Trajan  as 
sented,  and  the  next  day  he  was  the  last  that  shook  the  Die- 


A  MASQUE  OF  CUPID.  479 

tator's  hand  as  the  minister  stepped  into  the  balloon,  to  set 
out  on  the  venturesome  voyage  over  the  heads  of  the  enemy 
to  his  distant  post.  Love  has  a  timorous  skepticism  of  its 
own — for  when  Trajan  returned  to  the  Ardens,  an  eager  face 
was  at  the  window  and  a  glad  voice  instead  of  Pierre's  spoke 
to  him  at  the  head  of  the  stairs,  and  there  were  little  signs 
and  tokens  exchanged  which  indicated  that  "Somebody" 
was  greatly  relieved,  though  there  was  nothing  said  to  reveal 
the  doubt  that  had  troubled  "  Somebody's"  little  timorous 
soul  during  the  few  hours  absence. 

During  the  first  six  weeks  of  the  siege,  that  is,  till  toward 
the  beginning  of  November,  Paris  did  not  present  the  aspect 
of  a  besieged  city.  The  theaters  were  closed,  but  the  open 
air  concerts  were  all  the  more  crowded.  Gayety,  though 
somewhat  subdued,  was  still  the  watchword.  Food  was 
scarce  and  not  of  the  luxurious  variety  for  which  the  Paris 
ian  cuisines  are  famed.  But  life  with  sunshine  and  move 
ment  and  expectation  was  far  from  unbearable.  Among  the 
well-to-do,  there  were  continuous  little  fetes  en  famille,  and 
for  the  first  time  in  their  lives  the  volatile  gadabouts  of  the 
richer  quarters  learned  the  resources  of  an  interior,  for 
social  joys  were  hitherto  exclusively  associated  with  public 
entertainments.  Wine  was  always  abundant  ;  bread,  until 
the  last  dreadful  days  of  the  ordeal,  was  plenty,  and  the 
gourmets  realized  with  wonder  how  truly  the  latter  was  the 
staff  of  life.  Under  such  a  test  the  culinary  dexterities  of 
the  people  shone  to  advantage — never  wasteful  or  lavish,  the 
dinners  became  marvels  of  invention.  The  dearth  of  vege 
tables  and  the  scanty  nurture  of  the  cattle,  however,  soon 
told  on  the  young  and  infirm.  Disease  set  in  with  frightful 
ravages. 

The  delicately  reared  were  the  first  to  suffer.  The  phy 
sicians  called  into  the  field  could  not  attend  their  patients, 
and  the  evils  became  almost  epidemic.  Foreigners  were 
naturally  the  first  to  suffer,  as  the  drainage  and  household 
appliances  are  in  Paris  so  unlike  the  cleanly  and  varied 


480  TRAJAN. 

methods  of  other  countries.  Mrs.  Arden  first,  then  her  sister, 
were  attacked  with  gastric  fever,  and  the  negotiations  for  the 
family  liberation  were  as  a  consequence  suspended  at  the 
very  moment  when  leave  had  been  granted  for  the  journey 
of  the  feminine  members  of  the  Ardens  to  England.  Hence 
forth,  the  splendid  house  was  transformed  into  a  hospital — for 
little  Amedee,  too,  was  taken  ill — Kate,  Bella,  and  Edith  each 
took  upon  herself  an  invalid.  Straw  was  laid  on  the  street 
and  on  the  court-yard,  and  no  one  was  admitted  but  the 
intimate  friends  of  the  family. 

Theo  came  daily,  but  she  was  out  of  her  element  in  a  scene 
like  this  and  her  visits  were  not  prolonged — to  the  no  small 
satisfaction  of  Kate,  who  grimly  commented  on  this  phase  of 
the  little  diplomate's  character.  Theo's  own  cheery  apart 
ments  in  the  Rue  Galilee  became  the  rendezvous  of  the 
colony.  When  no  one  else  could  get  eatables  or  fresh  meat, 
this  dauntless  little  steward  managed  to  set  these  unex 
pected  dainties  on  the  table  at  the  select  little  dinners 
preceding  the  nightly  receptions.  It  was  wickedly  said 
that  her  brother-in-law's  purse  was  the  secret  of  this  amaz 
ing  abundance,  but  few  who  shared  in  the  symposiae  gave 
much  thought  to  the  source  of  these  entertainments,  so  long 
as  they  were  invited  to  the  feast.  Clare,  who  had  brought 
her  husband  home,  that  she  might  not  be  separated  from 
her  father,  didn't  always  appear  among  Theo's  guests. 

She  had  lost  something  of  the  dreamy  listlessness  that  used 
to  check  all  approach,  and  she  received  the  effusive  demon 
strations  of  the  happy  husband  with  an  affectionate  patience, 
that  quite  won  the  hearts  of  the  men.  The  women  were 
greatly  mystified  by  the  incongruous  couple.  It  was  plain 
that  calculation  or  mercenary  motives  had  not  entered  into 
Clare's  conduct,  for  she  was  as  simple  in  manner  and  plain 
in  attire  as  when  Theo's  precarious  exchequer  had  been  the 
source  of  her  income.  Most  of  her  day  was  given  to  her 
adoring  young  kinsfolk,  Marion  and  Sophronia — with  whom 
came  the  pensive  Amanda  in  these  times  of  social  eclipse, 


A  MASQUE  OF  CUPID.  481 

when  great  personages  were  no  more  to  be  captured  by  the 
family  splendors,  in  the  avenue  de  Roi  de  Rome  ;  nor  did 
Lafayette  as  Darby  lose  his  relish  for  the  fairy  lore  that 
had  captured  him  at  Crecy.  He  had  become  as  much  of  a 
child  as  his  small  brother,  and  listened  with  as  much  raptur 
ous  interest  to  Crusoe's  exploits,  or  Ali-Baba's  misadven 
tures,  as  the  big-eyed  boy  at  full  length  on  the  floor,  his 
fat  hands  supporting  his  red  cheeks  and  his  elbows  pillowed 
on  a  mat  rolled  up  to  soften  the  resting-place. 

To  Theo  the  sight  of  her  big  brother-in-law  immersed  in 
these  revivals  of  childish  romances,  inspired  a  sort  of  terma 
gant  virulence  of  sarcasm  that  fairly  frightened  the  light- 
hearted  Benedick.  He  conceived  a  mortal  dread  of  her 
malicious  sneer  and  critical  eye,  and  it  was  in  secret  that 
the  conspirators  snatched  the  perfervid  joys  of  romantic 
and  fairy  lore.  Theo  had  begun  early  to  insinuate  to  Clare 
the  necessity  of  liberal  provision  for  the  family.  But  Mrs. 
Lafayette  had  not  encouraged  the  conversation  or  given  any 
signal  of  assent.  The  indifference  of  Clare  arose  from  an 
extraordinary  circumstance.  The  Grovel  butler  was  uncle 
to  the  Carnot  chamber-maid.  This  girl  had  been  with  the  fam 
ily  since  its  first  arrival  in  Paris.  Celeste  adored  Clare,  and 
abhorred  Theo.  That  decisive  manager  had  cut  off  her  per 
quisites  in  scores  of  little  ways,  perquisites  which  no  French 
servant  pretends  to  intermit  in  well-to-do  families.  Theo  had 
found  that  the  systematic  fleecing  carried  on  by  the  domes 
tics,  leagued  against  the  masters,  brought  food  and  provis 
ions  to  ten  per  cent,  higher  rates  than  the  ruling  prices. 

On  investigating  the  matter,  she  was  more  amused  and 
enlightened  than  horrified,  for  the  methods  thus  discovered 
enabled  her  to  attain  a  proficiency  in  her  own  subsequent 
operations,  which  extracted  thousands  from  her  victims,  where 
other  and  less  adroit  agents  were  content  with  hundreds  of  dol 
lars.  Celeste's  kinsman,  the  Grovel  butler,  was  silent  partner 
with  the  butcher,  baker,  coalman,  oil  man  and  what  not, 
whose  wares  enter  into  household  consumption,  By  certain 


482  TRAJAN. 

masonic  symbols,  an  entente  was  established  among  the  domes 
tics  of  all  stranger  families  residing  in  the  capital.  The  cook 
had  her  percentage  for  miss-weighing  for  the  butcher  and 
grocer  ;  the  butler  for  miss-measuring  coal  and  general  sup 
plies  ;  the  chamber-maid  for  holding  her  tongue,  and  the 
waiters  for  the  same  reticence.  The  Carnots  of  course  never 
kept  a  major-domo,  but  so  soon  as  Theo  began  to  overhaul 
accounts,  she  saw  the  system  of  leaks  that  had  been  wast 
ing  the  family  income.  Not  a  servant  under  the  old  regime 
save  Celeste  was  retained.  She  told  her  laughingly  that 
henceforth  she  should  have  her  own  and  Clare's  cast  off 
dresses  once  a  year,  a  little  fete  present  on  her  birthday, 
but  not  a  sou's  stealage.  Celeste  turned  very  red  at  this 
ugly  word  used  in  the  most  jocose  good  humor  by  the  new 
mistress  of  the  family  destiny.  She  declared  that  she  was 
an  honest  girl  and  that  she  wouldn't  stay  where  she  was 
suspected  of  evil  doing.  She  had  never  been  accustomed 
to  such  treatment  among  the  noblesse  where  her  aptitudes, 
which  were  so  highly  valued,  had  been  learned. 

Theo  listened  to  this  outbreak  with  a  bland  affectation 
of  belief,  remarking  that  honesty  after  all  was  a  relative 
sort  of  question  and  that  Celeste  in  following  the  practices  of 
her  companions,  perhaps  did  not  realize  that  she  was  doing 
wrong.  But,  she  went  on,  in  a  tranquil,  decisive  way  that 
amazed  the  Frenchwoman  :  "We  can't  afford  to  support  the 
society  of  cooks  and  domestics  ;  we  can't  afford  to  pay  for  a 
ton  of  coal  when  only  a  half  ton  is  delivered  and  receipted 
for  ;  we  can't  afford  to  pay  the  butcher  for  twenty-five  pounds 
of  meat  a  week  when  only  ten  have  been  received.  In  short, 
Celeste,  we  are  in  future  going  to  pay  only  for  what  we  get, 
and  we  are  going  to  measure  and  weigh  every  thing  our 
selves." 

Celeste,  outraged  by  such  an  onslaught,  at  once  sought 
her  kinsman  the  butler.  He  was  a  man  of  sagacious 
deliberation,  and  he  counseled  the  angry  Abigail  to  rest 
quietly  where  she  was,  remarking  with  the  profound  insight 


A  MASQUE  OF  CUPID.  483 

that  is  to  be  met  with  in  the  despots  of  the  servants'  hall, 
when  it  is  notoriously  wanting  in  the  drawing-room  : 

"  You  must  remain  with  this  roturicre  at  least  for  a 
time.  It  won't  do  to  quit  the  stranger.  Such  a  move 
would  only  make  talk,  for  what  happens  in  one  family  of 
Americans  is  known  immediately  in  others  and  our  society 
would  be  weakened  by  dismissals  and  dissensions.  These 
Americans  for  the  most  part  don't  object  to  liberal  allow 
ances,  in  their  way,  if  we  are  silent.  Return  to  the  demoi 
selle  Carnot  and  quit  only  when  it  will  embete  them  to  have 
you  leave." 

Celeste  returned  and  never  made  any  sign  of  the  hatred 
she  nourished  toward  the  reformer.  Indeed,  in  time  it  grew 
into  a  feeling  of  something  like  admiration  for  Theo's  clever 
ness.  A  French  woman  respects  the  possession  of  faculty, 
even  though  it  forces  her  to  extra  armaments  for  the  en 
counter.  She  kept  an  eye  on  Theo,  however,  and  it  was 
partly  in  spite,  partly  in  admiration,  that  she  one  day  told 
Clare  that  she  should  give  Theo  credit  for  the  master-stroke 
that  gained  her  such  a  charming  parti  as  "  Monsieur 
Grovel." 

Clare,  very  much  surprised,  asked  what  she  meant.  With 
much  laughing  and  shrugging  Celeste  told  how  it  was  on  dit 
that  Theo  and  Jules  had  arranged  the  island  enterprise,  and 
had  isolated  the  couple  by  first  making  way  with  the  boat 
and  then  opening  the  mill  gates — that —  But,  speechless 
with  indignation,  Clare  ordered  the  malicious  vixen  from  her 
sight  and  sat  in  a  stupor  of  doubt  and  terror  until  Theo, 
returning  from  a  drive,  started  as  she  saw  her  sister  the  very 
picture  of  the  old  time  when  her  heart  seemed  dead. 

"  Theo  !  come  here — look  me  in  the  eye — tell  me — "  and 
Clare  rose  to  transfix  the  astonished  culprit.  "  Is  it  true — oh 
my  God  !  is  it  true — did  you — did  Jules  open  the  gates  that 
hideous  night  at  the  Mirabel  mill  ?  I  have  just  heard  that 
you  did — don't  deceive  me." 

"  What  meddler  has  come  to  you  with  such  a  farrago  ?  I'm 


484  TRAJAN. 

astonished,  Clare,  that  you  can  be  tormented  by  such  twad 
dle." 

"  Is  it,  or  is  it  not  true — look  me  in  the  face — tell  me  ?  I 
won't  be  played  with,  I  won't  give  way  to  you  in  this.  You 
may  play  with  men's  hearts  and  your  own  honor,  you  shall 
not  play  with  mine." 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Clare.  Even  if  Jules  and  I  did  play 
the  trick,  what  harm  was  there  in  it  ?  V^ou  have  the  most 
devoted  husband  in  the  world,  and  any  one  can  see  that  you 
love  him,  I  am " 

"That's  enough,  Theo,  I  am  answered.  Oh,  Theo, 
Theo,  thank  God,  your  infamy  did  not  ruin  the  life  of  a 
kind  and  tender  soul."  She  drew  back  shuddering  as  Theo 
made  a  movement  to  touch  her.  "  Oh — no — no — I  can't 
just  yet.  You  are  terrible,  Theo  — you  make  me  thrill  with 
horror,  when  I  think  that  you  are  my  sister  and  with  so  fair 
a  face  and  so  young — so  depraved  and  heartless " 

"  But  I  haven't  said  I  sent  the  boat  away,  or  cut  the  chain 
of  the  mill  gates — you've  only  the  gossip  of  some  simple 
ton " 

"  Oh,  Theo  !  Theo  !  you  are  a  wicked  girl  ;  you  have  not 
denied  it,  you  can  not  deny  it  ;  an  honest  woman  would  faint 
under  the  very  suspicion,  and  you — you — Theo,  your  eyes 
laughed  when  I  asked  you,  hoping  against  hope  that  it  was  a 
calumny  and  that,  heartless,  mercenary,  absorbed  as  you  have 
grown  for  money,  you  still  retained  natural  feelings  for  me, 
your  sister,  and  the  sentiment  of  honor  that  should  mark 
our  family." 

Clare  walked  the  room  in  agitation.  Theo  sank  upon  a 
chintz  covered  sofa,  burying  her  face  in  the  fluffy  folds  of 
its  pillows.  "  Oh,  my  God,  my  God,  that  my  own  sister — 
that  the  child  grown  up  like  my  very  own,  should  consent  to 
such  atrocious,  such  heartless,  such  vile  complotting.  You 
will  say  that  it  was  for  my  sake  you  did  the  villainy.  That 
this  rich  man  was  too  valuable  a  prey  to  pass  by  ;  that  by 
fair  means  I  could  never  have  been  brought  to  consent." 


A  MASQUE  OF  CUPID.  485 

She  stopped,  and  looking  at  the  crouching  figure,  con 
tinued  : 

"  Ah,  Theo,  Theo,  you  have  gone  far  from  me.  You 
have  set  up  an  altar  whose  worship  I  do  not  understand  ; 
whose  very  accents  are  unknown  to  me.  Where  did  you  get 
such  views  of  life  ?  You  never  learned  them  from  me.  For 
God  knows  that  even  in  my  days  of  dreams  and  ambition  I 
thought  only  of  rank  and  love,  never  of  the  sordid  realities 
of  money  !  " 

Theo,  with  white  face  and  eyes  that  glittered  under  a 
humid  veil,  said,  in  a  cold,  hard  voice  : 

"  I  came  by  my  traits  legitimately — look  at  our  kinswoman, 
La  Baronne.  If  I'm  a  reprobate  it  was  you  that  made  me 
so  ;  it  was  you " 

"  I — I — "  gasped  Clare,  sinking  in  a  chair. 

"  Yes,  it  was  the  sight  of  you  that  day  in  the  old  home  and 
every  day  thereafter  for  years,  that  made  me  meditate  by 
day  and  dream  by  night  of  revenge  on  that  coward  Kent 
and  his  arrogant  mother.  It  was  your  mute  plea  for  redress, 
your  folded  hands,  clasped  in  passive  protest  ;  your  wrecked 
life  and  helpless  drift  into  moral  Nihilism,  that  filled  me, 
since  I  can  remember,  with  one  purpose,  an  equality  in  all 
that  the  world  holds  in  awe  with  the  Ardens.  Wicked  I 
may  be,  and  dead  to  the  nicer  refinements  that  guide  girls 
reared  in  the  serener  grades  of  life — but  you  are  the  last  one 
to  accuse  me  of  heartlessness.  Tell  me  a  time  since  child 
hood  that  your  will  hasn't  been  my  law  ;  that  your  needs 
haven't  been  studied  before  any  body's  else,  that  every  dis 
turbing  influence,  every  hateful  thing  in  the  cares  of  the  day 
have  not  been  kept  from  you " 

"  Ah — Theo,  child — all  this  makes  the  matter  worse. 
There's  no  wickedness  so  baleful  as  that  to  which  one  gives 
some  sort  of  a  color  of  righteousness.  My  child,  forego  all 
these  useless  dreams.  We  are  now  secure  from  want.  Come 
to  the  mountains.  Live  with  us  ;  get  out  of  this  dreadful 
fever  of  Paris.  These  odious  men  that  visit  us  are  intoler- 


486  TRAJAN. 

able  to  me.  Lafayette  tells  me  that  this  Prince  d'Amboise 
is  little  better  than  a  murderer  ;  he  broke  the  heart  of  a 
noble  woman  and  deserted  her — a  maniac.  They  are  all  alike, 
Theo.  It  is  mingling  with  them  that  dissipates  your  con 
science  and  makes  it  impossible  for  you  to  see  the  horror  of 
the  position  you  have  placed  me  in." 

"  What  have  you  to  do  with  your  position  ?  Even  suppos 
ing  that  the  ruse  was  played  in  a  spirit  of  fun — you  had  no 
knowledge  of  it  ;  not  a  soul  knew  it.  The  miller  was  drunk, 
and  as  for  any  human  handiwork,  it  is  only  wild  conjec 
ture." 

"I  have  this  much  to  do  with  the  scandal,  Theo,  that  I 
shall  instantly  tell  the  facts  to  my  husband.  I  can  not  afford 
to  let  this  stain  rest  upon  my  honor  as  his  wife.  I  must  have 
his  respect,  as  I  give  him  mine.  How  could  I  expect  it  if 
he  identified  me  with  an  ignoble,  shameless  plot  to  entrap 
him  into  marriage  ?  " 

"  But  he  would  have  married  you  in  any  event." 

"  No,  he  would  never  have  married  me  if  the — that — ter 
rible  incident  had  not  compelled  it.  I  did  not  deceive  him- 
He  knows  that  he  is  not  loved.  But  his  sense  of  honor  and 
my  fear  of  ruining  your  prospects,  induced  me  to  accept 
marriage  as  the  only  way  out  of  the  miserable  complication. 
He  would  never  have  married  me,  for  I  should  never  have 
consented  !  It  is  not  your  fault  that  two  lives  have  not  been 
made  bitter  and  wretched.  His  unsuspicious,  happy  nature 
makes  my  task  easy  ;  but  what  do  you  suppose  would  be 
the  result  of  such  a  revelation  as  this  to  him  from  any  one 
else  than  myself  ?  He  is  uneducated  and  rash.  His  facul 
ties  when  trained  are  admirable,  but  he  could  never  reason 
out  my  innocence  in  this  vile  intrigue.  It  humiliates  me  to 
be  forced  to  put  my  sister  in  such  an  attitude,  but  his  happi 
ness  is  in  my  care  and  I  must  protect  it  by  arming  him  with 
the  truth." 

Theo  meanwhile  had  arisen  and  was  pacing  the  floor,  her 
two  hands  clasped  on  the  back  of  her  head,  the  elbows  pro- 


A  MASQUE  OF  CUPID.  487 

truding  akimbo.  Without  stopping  in  the  walk,  which  grew 
more  nervous,  as  she  gave  herself  up  to  the  passionate 
thought  which,  her  eyes  told,  was  shaping  itself  in  her 
brain,  she  asked  almost  indifferently,  "  Where  did  you  hear 
this  farrago,  Clare  ?  " 

"  Celeste  heard  it  in  the  butler's  hall  at  the  Grovels." 

"  Well,  if  you  are  determined  to  govern  yourself  by  the 
appreciations  of  the  servants'  hall,  all  I  can  say  is  that  Jules 
and  myself  will  oppose  a  positive  denial  to  this  preposterous 
story.  We  can  prove  that  we  were  both  at  the  Duclos 
Chateau  when  you  and  Lafayette  rode  out,  and  that  your 
disappearance  was  as  great  a  shock  to  us  as  to  the  rest.  I 
will  furthermore  dismiss  Celeste  for  this  impertinence,  and  I 
shall  myself  go  to  your  father-in-law,  relate  this  whole  re 
volting  business,  and  ask  him  to  dismiss  the  servants  that 
have  set  such  stories  on  foot,"  and  so  from  the  nettle  danger 
Theo  set  forth  to  pluck  not  only  the  flower  safety,  but  a 
sort  of  moral  Coronal.  When  she  told  Lafayette  the  story, 
in  her  own  vivacious  way,  her  eyes  dim  with  tears  and  her 
pretty  hand  busy  with  the  lace  that  repressed,  while  it  did 
not  hide,  the  pearly  drops,  that  good  natured  prince  of  the 
prairie  roared  with  laughter. 

'*  'Pon  my  soul,  Theo,  I  wish  you  had  done  it  three  weeks 
sooner,  I  would  have  been  that  much  ahead  in  happiness." 

"  But  don't  I  tell  you — it's  a  calumny,  Lafayette,  and  you 
must  not  let  it  be  said." 

"  All  right,  Theo  dear,  you're  a  brick — I  beg  pardon,  I 
mean  you're,  you're  a  gold  lode — that's  it — I  don't  care  a  red 
pippin  how  Clare  and  I  became  one.  I'm  the  happiest 
Jake  in  creation,  and  so  long  as  Clare  don't  mind,  why  let 
'em  say  what  they  please."  But  there  was  dismay  in  the 
butler's  domain  that  same  day. 


488  TRAJAN. 

CHAPTER   XXXI. 

JULES    GOES    OUT    TO    SHEAR    AND    IS    SHORN. 

CLARE'S  words  had  sunk  far  deeper  into  the  sober  sense 
df  her  sister  than  either  of  them  realized  at  the  time. 
There  was  a  look  of  haggard  care  on  the  small  piquant 
face,  giving  it  the  appearance  of  an  unseemly  mask,  as 
Theo  locked  herself  in  her  room  after  the  confession  to 
Lafayette.  Never  since  she  could  remember  had  her  elder 
sister  spoken  in  such  a  tone.  Until  her  own  better  capacity 
for  managing  had  put  her  at  the  head  of  the  household, 
Clare  had  been  a  mother  as  well  as  sister  to  Jules  and  Theo. 

Though  the  disparity  in  years  was  but  slight,  Clare's  brood 
ing  life  had  given  her  a  sobriety  that  seemed  proper  to  an 
older  person.  It  was  partly  this  appearance  of  age,  or  at 
any  rate  the  gravity  of  age,  if  not  years,  as  well  as  the  dif 
ference  in  natures,  that  left  both  girls  in  almost  complete 
ignorance  of  the  nature  of  each  other.  Clare  never  dreamed 
that  she  did  not  know  Theo,  profoundly,  to  the  utmost  con 
volution  of  her  brain  tissue.  Theo,  while  not  so  certain  of 
the  extent  of  her  knowledge  of  her  sister,  let  no  speculation 
go  astray,  up  to  a  certain  point.  There  had  been  few  secrets 
between  them.  There  were  the  reserves  that  must  always 
subsist  between  natures  that  are  in  the  slightest  degree  dis 
similar.  Clare,  mother-like,  was  confident  she  knew  the 
nature  of  her  sister,  whereas  it  was  as  impenetrable  to  her 
as  the  dialect  of  the  lost  tribes.  As  it  is  a  false  key  that 
opens  all  doors,  so  it  is  a  false  nature  which,  suspecting 
others,  is  keenest  and  surest  in  measuring  the  false  in  others. 

While  Theo  was  a  dead  secret  to  her  sister,  Clare's  heart 
was  an  open  tablet,  or  she  thought  it  was.  Now,  though 
familiarly  confiding  with  her  elder,  Theo  always  held  back 
the  strong  impulses  and  coloring  processes  of  her  life.  She 
vaguely  imagined  that  Clare  was  in  cordial  sympathy  with 


JULES  GOES  OUT  TO  SHEAR  AND  IS  SHORN.       489 

her  ;  that  speech  was  not  essential  in  all  things.  If  she  had 
even  asked  herself  the  question  why  Clare  left  the  schemes 
and  battle  of  life  to  her  junior,  Theo  would  have  answered  it 
with  entirely  just  complacency,  that  it  was  her  superior  fit 
ness  for  the  post  that  gave  her  the  sword  and  shield. 

In  the  scheme  of  her  life  it  was  Jules'  future  and  Clare's 
ease  she  had  most  at  heart.  The  Grovel  marriage  was 
to  make  Jules  potential — to  gain  him  Bella. 

In  pushing  Clare  into  marriage  with  Grovel,  Theo  believed 
herself  to  be  doing  not  only  a  master-stroke  in  social 
diplomacy,  but  by  breaking  in  upon  the  inertia  of  the  melan 
choly  dreamer  had  forced  her  into  a  new  life  which  would 
restore  her  to  her  ancient  spirit  and  gayety.  Her  amazement 
was  not  less  than  her  despair,  when  Clare  denounced  the  plot 
of  which  she  and  Grovel  had  been  made  the  victims.  She  had 
never  thought  it  necessary  to  make  known  to  Clare  that  a 
union  with  Yahoo  Gulch  would  be  a  great  step  toward  the 
re-establishment  of  the  family  fortunes.  Had  she  done  so 
Clare  would  have  fled  in  consternation  ;  but  now  that  the 
battle  had  been  set,  and  the  adversary  squarely  beaten,  why 
should  she  be  set  upon  as  a  Sycorax,  peopling  the  family 
halls  with  monsters  !  There  are  few  of  us  who  can  resist  a 
gentle  filmy  sort  of  hypocrisy  with  ourselves.  Debating  the 
purposes  agitating  her  breast,  Theo  felt  convinced  that  her 
conduct,  instead  of  denunciation  or  disparagement,  was 
deserving  of  warm  praise.  Had  she  not  for  the  sake  of  her 
family  sacrificed  her  heart,  in  refusing  the  man  she  loved  ; 
the  only  man  she  should  ever  love  ?  What  !  wicked  to  put 
the  cup  from  her  lips  and  take  hyssop  and  hemlock  ?  What ! 
she,  with  her  mind  alive  to  all  the  amenities  of  seclusion, 
and  her  soul  responsive  to  love,  denying  herself  all  this  for 
the  reconquest  of  the  family  glory,  reviled  as  wicked,  un 
principled,  debased,  almost  vile  ?  She  clenched  her  hand 
so  fiercely  upon  her  bosom  that  a  stray  pin  struck  to  the 
bone.  She  hardly  felt  it  until  a  little  purple  spray  of  blood 
oozing  out  trickled  softly  down  upon  her  face  as  she  clasped 


49°  TRAJAN. 

her  hands  above  her  forehead,  a  favorite  trick  with  Theo  in 
excitement.  She  caught  sight  of  the  wound  in  the  mirror 
before  she  felt  it,  and  arose  with 'a  faint  scream  to  wash  it 
away  ;  for,  like  most  strong  natures,  Theo  became  faint  at 
sight  of  blood. 

Before  she  reached  the  basin  in  the  dressing-room  a  loud 
knock,  which  she  recognized  as  Jules',  startled  her.  He  was 
hardly  less  startled  when  he  saw  her  gory  face.  As  she  ex 
plained  the  cause  he  fell  into  a  chair  with  a  heavy  sigh. 
She  came  back  to  the  dresser,  anointed  the  finger,  and 
conjured  the  vision  of  blood  by  a  dab  of  rice  powder.  She 
came  softly  behind  Jules  and  putting  her  two  hands  under 
his  chin  drew  his  handsome  head  back,  planting  a  tender 
lingering  kiss  on  the  forehead,  the  eyelids,  and  then  with  a 
most  passionate  accession  of  love,  full  upon  the  shapely  mouth. 

"  You  are  unhappy,  Jules.  Tell  me,  what  is  it — money  ? 
You've  not  been  gaming  again — you  promised  me,  you  know 
— you  must  postpone  luxuries  like  that  until  you  have  a  bank 
account." 

"  No — damnation.  Theo  don't  always  harp  on  that 
devilish  theme.  Oh,  God  eternal  and  omnipotent,  would 
that  such  hateful  stuff  as  gold  never  had  been  invented.  What 
is  it  ?  why  seek  it  ?  why  better  with  than  without  it  ?  why 
should  I,  who  know  more  than  half  the  infernal  young 
noodles  of  the  Faubourg,  lie  and  cringe  and  sneak,  to  con 
ceal  my  empty  purse  ?  Why  should  I  plot  and  scheme,  and 
let  you  plot  and  scheme,  for  what  ?  To  have  what  can't 
give  our  new  relations,  the  Grovels,  the  respect  of  the  most 
beggarly  patrician  in  the  Faubourg.  Our  brother-in-law, 
Lafayette,  is  worth  five  millions  it  is  said.  He  couldn't 
enter  as  a  lackey  where  I  go  as  a  welcome  guest.  Ton  my 
faith,  Theo,  I  think  I  could  be  an  honest  fellow.  I  think 
I  could  be  with  the  woman  I  love.  Oh,  Theo  ! " 

She  had  gently  pushed  him  back  upon  the  sofa,  and 
kneeling  on  the  floor  looked  into  his  eyes.  He  bent  down 
blushing  and  kissed  her. 


JULES  GOES  OUT  TO  SHEAR  AND  IS  SHORN.       491 

"  Did  you  think  I  didn't  know  it,  dear.  I  don't  blame 
you.  You  love  her  and  she  shall  love  you." 

"  Oh,  Theo,  I  can't  understand  it.  When  she  looks  at 
me  I  have  no  speech  ;  when  I  am  near  her  my  whole  body 
is  in  a  tremble  ;  I  dare  not  breathe  sometimes.  I  thought 
it  such  an  easy  thing  to  make  the  test  of  winning  her.  I 
didn't  much  care,  but  thought  it  would  help  your  plans. 
My  God,  my  God,  Theo,  all  the  devil  in  me  is  evaporated, 
I  have  no  daring  ;  all  my  old  ambitions  seem  degrading  and 
shallow  ;  if  she  looks  at  flower  or  leaf,  or  twig  or  bough,  in 
the  bois,  I  can't  sleep  until  I  have  gone  those  weary  miles 
to  get  them  at  the  risk  of  arrest  by  the  gendarmes.  If  she 
passes  an  urchin  on  the  street  and  pats  his  head,  I  find  my 
self  moping  there  afterward  just  to  see  the  happy  brat  again. 
The  jockeys  in  the  stables  think  me  an  imbecile  for  caress 
ing  her  beast.  Oh,  Theo,  Theo,  you  have  lost  an  ally— 
you  have  lost  a  brother  :  what  she  loves  I  love  ;  what  she 
wishes  I  wish  ;  what  she  commands  I  will  do,  or  die  in 
doing." 

"  I  am  told  she  loves  the  prince — do  you  love  him  ? " 

"  Tush,  she  doesn't  care  that  for  the  prince,"  and  Jules 
snapped  his  finger  lightly. 

"  Does  she  care  for  you  ?  " 

Jules  rose  and  walked  to  the  window  and  answered  in  a 
low  sad  tone  : 

"  No  ;  she  is  in  love  with  Gray,  and  Gray  doesn't  know 
it" 

Theo  was  at  his  side  in  a  flash.  Thrusting  herself  between 
him  and  the  window,  she  searched  his  face  with  wild 
startled  eyes  : 

"Gray,  did  you  say — Gray,  Jules?  You  don't  mean  it," 
she  asked. 

"Yes,"  Jules  answered.  "I  know  the  light  that  comes 
in  her  eye  when  Gray  is  near  ;  I  know  the  signs,  I  suffer 
them  every  hour  in  the  day  ;  I  sometimes  think  they  are 
with  me  in  my  sleep.  Oh,  Theo,  Theo,  you  are  so  clever. 


492  TRAJAN. 

Give  me  this  ;  make  this  sweet  girl  love  me.  But  what  a 
simpleton  I  am.  I  know  from  what  I  feel  myself,  that  this 
can  not  be.  I  am  a  fool,  and  no  wonder  I  am  talking  like 
one.  But  I  have  got  so  used  to  looking  to  a  thing  as  done 
when  you  promise  it,  that  I  came  over  here  eager  and  san 
guine,  as  I  used  to  when  I  had  sacked  my  month's  supplies 
and  came  to  you  knowing  that  you  had  a  wizard  rod  to 
transmute  my  I.  O.  U.'s  into  Napoleons." 

Theo,  seating  herself,  motioned  Jules  to  sit  also.  She 
put  her  hands  up,  clasping  them  behind  her  head,  and 
studied  the  young  man  with  a  dreamy  sort  of  abstraction. 

"  You  feel  confident  Bella  has  idealized  Trajan  into  a 
lover  ? " 

"Oh,  no,  no  !  I  didn't  say  that.  Trajan  is  passionately 
attached  to  Edith,  and  doesn't  dream  of  Bella's  preference." 

"  You  think  Trajan  really  cares  for  Edith  ?  "  Theo  asked, 
taking  down  her  hands  suddenly. 

"  Think  ;  why  it's  plain  enough — haven't  you  seen  it  ? 
The  very  servants  treat  him  as  ajia/ict'." 

"  I  thought  he  was  fond  of  her  ;  but  I  am  sure  he  does 
not  love  her,  on  the  very  same  ground  sthat  you  claim  that 
Bella's  love  could  never  come  to  you." 

"  What  in  Heaven's  name  do  you  mean,  Theo  ?  I  don't 
understand  you  ;  but  I  believe  that  you  think  you  can  gain 
me  this  salvation." 

"  If  you  tell  me  truly  that  Bella  loves  Trajan  Gray,  I  will 
stake  my  head  that  you  have  the  promise  of  her  hand  in 
marriage  before  the  spring  buds  bloom  in  the  Champs 
Elysees." 

"  Theo,  you  are  a  witch,  your  guiles  are  infinite,  your 
address  something  diabolic,  but,  my  child,  your  love  for  me 
blinds  you  here.  It's  only  in  romance  that  devoted  sisters 
and  pious  mothers  win  rich  and  obdurate  maidens  to  love 
repentant  and  plausible  young  men.  I  know  you're  capable 
of  a  good  deal.  I'm  not  sure,"  he  added,  looking  at  her 
strangely,  "  that  you  would  hesitate  at  the  Italian  arts  " — she 


JULES  GOES  OUT  TO  SHEAR  AND  IS  SHORN.       493 

started — "  and  I  declare  I  shall  warn  Gray  to  look  out  for  his 
liquors  when  you  are  about,  for  I  know  you  well  enough  to 
know  that  whatever  stands  in  my  way  you  will  remove,  if  it 
takes  dynamite  or  Prussic  acid  to  do  it  !  But  it's  of  no  use, 
Theo,  I  own  that  for  the  moment  I  am  completely  useless. 
I  have  drifted  as  completely  from  the  objects,  aspirations 
and  purposes  of  the  last  few  years  as  though  I  had  been 
landed  in  the  Happy  Valley  and  the  indolence  of  rest  had 
taken  possession  of  me.  The  lotos  eater's  song  is  in  my 
brain,  the  poppies  of  Cathay  in  my  blood.  I  am  for  the 
moment  made  as  pure  and  innocent,  by  love,  as  a  saint  by 
religion.  The  merest  rope  of  sand,  spun  from  a  melting 
beach,  holds  me  to  the  life  you  have  taught  me  was  to  be 
mine.  If  you  want  to  get  me  back,  you'll  have  to  forge  a 
chain  of  love." 

"Well,  I'll  be  Azrael  to  one  at  least  of  these  lovers. 
Foolish  boy  ;  keep  your  counsel.  Be  all  things  to  all  the 
moods  of  this  proud  beauty.  Melt  her  heart  by  timid 
obeisance,  but  if  you  could  seize  some  opportunity  for  a 
daring  rescue — if  it  were  only  a  dog — it  would  thrill  her. 
I've  caught  her  crying  like  a  watering  trough  over  such 
flimsy  stuff  as  that  Tulliver  girl  in  4  The  Mill  on  the  Floss.' 
You'll  have  no  difficulty  in  replacing  Gray — if  he  be  her 
hero — for  she  was  won  to  him  by  that  gratuitous  piece  of 
blood  and  thunder  I  always  suspected  he  invented  for  his 
own  purposes." 

"But  how  account  for  his  late  exploits — at  Metz  and 
Sedan?" 

"  I  don't  deny  he's  brave  " — and  there  was  a  peculiar  light 
in  Theo's  eyes — "but  even  a  hero  is  justified  in  setting  his 
scene  to  show  his  parts  to  the  best  advantage.  Depend 
upon  it,  Bella's  airy  fancies  have  given  Trajan's  valor  a  local 
habitation.  Let  her  once  be  rid  of  her  regard  for  him — do 
you  think  you  could  win  her  ?  " 

"I'm  sure  of  it." 

"  Trls  bien,    give   me   six   weeks   and    I'll   engage    that 


494  TRAJAN. 

Trajan  Gray  is  not  on  speaking  terms  with  a  single  member 
of  the  Arden  family." 

"  What  in  God's  name  do  you  mean  ? " 

u  You  have  just  told  me  that  you  are  held  to  the  past  by 
a  rope  of  rainbow  texture.  I  can't  trust  you  ;  therefore, 
all  you  have  to  consider  is  the  question  of  entering  a  breach, 
when  another  arm  has  battered  the  guns  away." 

Can  it  be  that  those  merry  jokers,  the  scientists,  who  are 
gradually  clearing  away  all  the  baggage  of  romance  and  the 
masks  of  history,  can  it  be  that  they  tell  us  truly  in  those 
wonderful  chapters  on  air-waves  and  spiritual  interpenetra- 
tion — magnetic  and  otherwise  ?  I  am  not  superstitious  ; 
I  never  knew  a  seventh  son  of  a  seventh  son  who  could  see 
further  through  a  stone  wall  than  a  third  or  a  second,  but  I 
am  forced  to  record  a  curious  coincidence,  for  as  sure  as 
you,  reader,  are  wise  and  learned  (and  you  can't  contain  all 
that  is  in  this  history  without  being  that),  acute,  critical  and 
far-seeing,  it  was  during  this  very  time  that  Trajan,  seated 
in  the  Arden  drawing-room,  intent  upon  a  visual  acquaint 
ance  with  the  blue  deeps  in  "  Somebody's  "  eyes,  felt  a 
strange  sinking  sensation  and  a  sudden  clamor  of  dread,  as 
you  may  have  felt  in  your  younger  years  on  suddenly  look 
ing  over  your  left  shoulder  and  seeing  the  new  moon,  in  the 
days  before  you  had  delivered  yourself  from  this  old 
grandam  fable  !  His  spirit  darkened  suddenly,  unaccount 
ably  ;  all  the  rest  of  the  day  he  remained  in  depression  that 
deepened  to  gloom.  The  shadow  of  a  presentiment,  vague, 
flitting,  intangible,  hung  over  him,  until  the  kindly  conjurer, 
sleep,  exorcised  the  spirit  of  dread  in  the  nepenthe  of 
dreams. 

Jules  left  his  sister  frightened  rather  than  comforted. 
He  had  no  doubt  of  Theo's  inexpugnable  purpose.  Her 
inscrutable  methods,  too,  did  much  to  awe  the  young  man. 
He  admired  her  cleverness,  her  matchless  faculty  for  seiz 
ing  and  adjusting  things  to  suit  her  purposes.  But  what 
did  she  mean  to  do  to  alienate  the  Ardens  from  Trajan,  who 


JULES  GOES  OUT  TO  SHEAR  AND  IS  SHORN,       495 

was  regarded  as  a  sort  of  demi-god  by  the  four  women  ? 
He  couldn't  imagine  what  Theo  relied  on  so  confidently  ; 
that  she  was  confident  her  calmness  and  conviction  left  no 
room  to  doubt.  Whatever  was  to  be  done,  he  resolved  to 
take  no  part  in  the  plot,  open  or  ulterior.  He  knew  that  if 
he  were  ever  to  gain  Bella's  confidence,  it  must  be  by  an 
open  deportment  and  the  observance  of  the  things  that  men 
of  honor  hold  absolute.  He  was  not  in  any  sense  converted 
or  contrite  ;  far  from  it.  Conviction  of  any  kind  made  but 
light  hold  on  Jules'  volatile  consciousness.  For  the  moment 
the  aristocratic  pose  and  stately  beauty  of  Bella  seemed 
more  desirable  than  the  court  dames  and  rank  he  had  made 
the  crown  of  his  destiny.  The  court  dames  and  titles  would 
have  required  another  form  of  wooing.  He  would  have 
adopted  the  lighter  and  more  congenial  form  with  greater 
readiness.  Jules  was  a  fellow  of  bright  wit.  He  was 
Theo's  counterpart  in  repartee,  and  he  was  adored  by  the 
fragile  beauties  of  the  court  and  coulisses. 

But  what  could  Theo  mean  by  assuring  Jules  of  the  exile 
of  Trajan  from  the  friends  that  adored  him  ?  My  own 
impression  is  that  she  counted  at  first  on  recapturing  Trajan, 
by  arts  that  she  alone  knew  how  to  employ  !  By  such  a 
stroke  she  would  destroy  the  fabric  of  Trajan's  credit  with 
all  the  Ardens.  He  would  be  odious  to  Edith  for  his  infi 
delity  ;  hateful  to  Elliot  for  his  interference  in  that  young 
man's  passing  whim,  and  antipathetic  to  Mrs.  Arden,  her 
sister  and  Bella  because  of  his  inconstancy,  instability  and 
faithlessness.  Now  to  have  done  this,  would  have  been  a 
masterpiece  of  plotting.  It  would  have  been  the  dramatic 
and  emotionally  stimulating  device  to  adopt,  were  this 
merely  a  romance  invented  for  the  puzzlement  of  the  reader. 

To  have  Theo  bring  Trajan  back  to  her  feet  by  the  most 
charming  confession  of  her  baseness,  her  vow  of  repentance 
and  dedication  to  the  beatitudes,  would  be  one  of  the  most 
striking  situations  in  fiction.  It  would  be  a  peculiarly  felic 
itous  means  of  rehabilitating  Theo  in  the  character  of  a 


496  TRAJAN. 

heroine,  and  give  her  what  her  cleverness  demands,  the 
first  place  in  these  pages — for  such  is  the  depravity  of  the 
race,  that  those  who  have  gone  over  these  pages  admire  the 
wicked-  Delilah — preferring  her  with  all  her  works  and 
pomps,  to  the  magnificent  Bella  and  the  sweet  nymph 
Edith.  I  own  'twould  be  an  edifying  tableau  to  close 
the  volume  with,  the  repentant  Theo  in  tears  at  Trajan's 
feet,  begging  for  the  love  she  had  scorned,  the  heart  she 
had  broken.  But  the  energetic  Theo  had  no  such  project 
of  moral  rehabilitation  in  her  mind.  Her  plans  for  carrying 
out  her  purpose  were  of  a  sort  more  in  keeping  with  the 
audacity  of  her  nature  and  the  originality  of  her  methods. 
Hence  the  reader  will  bear  in  mind  that  the  neglect  of  this 
opportunity  for  a  dazzling  stroke  of  dramatic  poetic  justice 
is  no  more  the  writer's  fault  than  the  events  that  led  to 
Iphigenia's  unpleasant  dilemma,  or  Briseis'  wretched  fate, 
were  ascribable  to  Homer. 

We  know  Theo  well  enough  to  take  her  word  for  it,  that 
what  she  promises  Jules  she  means  to  carry  out.  How  then 
is  she  to  bring  this  catastrophe  to  pass  ?  She  spoke  with  such 
confidence  when  she  looked  Jules  in  the  eye,  that  he  knew 
she  had  something  to  base  it  on.  Possibly  Trajan  might 
have  heard  the  threat  with  scorn.  What,  the  blue  eyes,  into 
whose  deeps  he  never  tired  gazing,  turned  from  him  ?  what, 
his  body  still  red  with  scars  suffered  defending  Arden  lives, 
looked  upon  coldly  by  the  tender  ladies,  who  had  taken  him 
to  their  hearts  ?  Trajan  would  have  laughed  at  such  a  comic 
suggestion.  The  Ardens  were  made  of  metal  not  so  easily 
molded. 

Theo,  meanwhile,  had  not  forgotten  Celeste's  offense. 
She  had  never  deceived  herself  as  to  that  young  person's 
sullen  dislike  to  the  new  regime  in  the  Rue  Galilee.  Inter 
est  alone  had  kept  her  in  the  family.  Clare  was  very  gentle 
and  kind  with  her,  and  Theo  was  so  much  away  in  the  grand 
world,  that  the  girl  rather  regarded  herself  as  mistress. 
Good  fortune  too,  had  somewhat  relaxed  Theo's  watchful' 


JULES  GOES  OUT  TO  SHEAR  AND  IS  SHORN.       497 

ness,  and  Celeste  found  many  a  chance  to  pocket  a  passing 
penny.  When,  therefore,  one  day  she  was  summoned  to 
her  mistress  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  was  informed  that 
her  month's  wages  were  ready  and  she  should  quit  the  house 
on  the  instant,  there  was  a  scene  almost  as  affecting  as  that 
which  we  read  of  when  the  king  dismisses  a  prime  minister. 
Celeste  implored  pardon  ;  she  would  be  the  slave,  the  angel 
of  the  household — if  she  might  be  spared  this  escalandre. 
Theo  was  obdurate.  She  was  smiling  the  while — but  as 
firm  as  flint.  Celeste  got  up  from  the  floor  where  she  had 
fallen  in  piteous  abasement,  and  there  was  a  strange  gleam 
in  her  eye  as  she  asked  submissively  if  mademoiselle  would 
give  her  commendation  in  her  carnet,  that  she  might  get 
another  post.* 

No,  the  indignant  mistress  could  not  take  it  upon  her 
conscience  to  introduce  so  faithless  a  servant  into  an  honest 
family.  All  that  she  could  promise  was  to  say  nothing 
unless  compelled.  I  think  that  if  Theo  could  have  seen 
the  face  of  the  dismissed  and  disgraced  maid  as  she  stole 
out  a  half  hour  later,  she  would  have  overlooked  the  bab 
bling  that  had  aroused  Clare  to  protest.  For  as  she  closed 
the  door  leading  to  the  escalier  de  service,  she  left  her  pack 
ages  on  the  floor  long  enough  to  shake  her  fist  menacingly 
toward  Theo's  room,  whispering  between  her  lips  :  "  You 
shall  go  down  on  your  knees  to  get  me  back,  and  even  then, 
perhaps,  I  sha'n't  come."  But  who  ever  saw  a  dismissed 
aid  in  any  of  the  industries  of  life,  from  a  conged  premier  to 
an  expropriated  cook,  who  didn't  take  themselves  off  breath 
ing  rage  and  filled  with  dire  foretellings  ? 

*  Garnet  is  a  small  memorandum  book  that  French  servants  are  com 
pelled  by  law  to  deposit  at  the  police  bureau  for  the  inspection  of  those 
who  hi  re  them. 


49 8  TRAJAN. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

LIKE    A    TALE    THAT    IS    TOLD. 

EXILED  in  London,  Elliot  hungered  for  the  friends  on 
the  Seine,  little  imagining  the  stress  in  which  his  family 
were  placed.  His  mind  was,  it  must  be  owned,  more  occu 
pied  with  dreams  of  Theo  than  the  group  on  the  Rue  Fran- 
£ois  I.  He  passed  much  of  his  time  with  Armitage,  whom 
he  had  known  in  Paris,  and  that  amiable  Briton  diverted  him 
a  good  deal.  His  home  letters  were  rare  and  brief,  as  com 
munication  could  only  be  carried  on  in  the  diplomatic  mail- 
bag  and  this  was  heavily  burdened. 

Theo  sent  him  infinitely  amusing  accounts  of  life  during 
the  siege.  Of  the  shift  for  food.  How  she  went  to  market 
daily  in  a  disguise  which  left  her  a  cross  between  the  fairy 
godmother  and  Cinderella  ;  how  it  required  profound  skill 
in  animal  anatomy  to  say  whether  she  was  paying  three  dol 
lars  a  pound  for  rabbit  or  cat  meat,  but  that  to  the  taste 
both  were  one  ;  how  that  on  the  altar  of  starvation  all  viands 
gave  the  same  odor  and  took  the  same  taste.  She  kept  him 
au  courant  of  her  triumphs  in  the  Faubourg,  describing  with 
enchanting  drollery  the  forays  of  the  dowagers  upon  the 
young  men  she  had  accepted  as  her  body  guard,  so  to  speak. 
She  recalled  just  enough  coquetry  and  naive  disregard  of  his 
own  pretension  to  madden  the  otherwise  equable  lover  with 
outbreaks  of  passionate  rage  and  despair. 

"  The  infernal  little  flirt — was  there  ever  such  a  shame 
lessly  unprincipled  minx — absolutely  calling  me  in  to  witness 
her  artifices,  as  though,  having  baited  me,  there  is  no  further 
need  of  wasting  her  deceptions  on  me." 

The  aftermath  of  his  wayward  passion  was  a  long  dissipa 
tion  in  the  roystering  life  of  the  London  clubs,  where  his 
relationship  to  a  family  of  high  rank  gave  him  great  vogue. 
He  met  Armitage  often,  and  during  the  expansions  of  club 


LIKE  A    TALE   THA  T  IS  TOLD.  499 

revelry  he  .learned  of  Theo's  meeting  with  Trajan  and 
her  identification  with  the  smugglers.  The  dismal  story, 
added  to  a  winter  of  dissipation,  threw  him  into  a  mental 
breakdown,  which  in  the  end  became  a  physical  collapse. 

The  weeks  of  fever  that  followed  his  Sardanapalian 
excesses  and  repentance  were  kept  from  the  mother  and 
sister,  though  Armitage  wrote  Trajan,  leaving  it  to  his  dis 
cretion  whether  to  make  known  the  danger  or  not.  Instead 
of  doing  this  Trajan  confided  the  bad  news  to  Kate,  and 
it  was  agreed  that  she  should  go  over  to  London  on  a 
plausible  pretext,  to  nurse  the  lad  to  convalescence  before 
any  hint  of  his  true  condition  should  reach  the  household. 
The  home  invalids  were  recovering  slowly  and  the  shock 
of  Elliot's  danger  might  bring  on  a  relapse. 

It  thus  happened  that  Kate  found  herself  installed  in  the 
pretty  villa  at  Denmark  Hill,  where  Armitage  had  conveyed 
the  reprobate,  so  soon  as  the  physician  pronounced  his  illness 
serious.  Kate  wrote  letters  of  buoyant  flippancy  to  the  anx 
ious  friends  in  Paris,  intrepidly  representing  that  the  lad  had 
broken  his  leg,  which  was  mending  slowly  ;  or  that  he  had 
suffered  a  relapse,  through  risking  his  limb  in  the  street. 
Indeed,  Kate  for  a  month  demonstrated  capacities  in  cir 
cumstantial  fiction  that  would  have  made  her  invaluable  in 
politics  or  journalism  ! 

Elliot's  system,  though  shaken,  was  unimpaired,  and  Kate's 
assiduous  nursing  finally  routed  the  beleaguering  ills  that 
assailed  the  hapless  exile.  When  the  sharp  east  winds  came 
whistling  through  the  wide  reaches  of  Denmark  Hill,  lifting 
the  fogs  that  smother  the  London  end  of  the  British  isles, 
he  was  able  to  be  up  and  breathe  a  new  breath  of  life.  He 
was  still  languid  and  inert,  but  with  the  spring  sunshine  began 
to  recover  his  fine  color  and  the  roseate  tinge  that  served 
as  a  barometer  to  the  healthfulness  of  his  blood.  He  had 
gone  through  an  ordeal  hardly  less  painful  than  bitter.  In 
the  delirious  wanderings  of  his  first  ten  days'  fever  Kate  had 
been  appalled  by  the  glimpses  she  gathered  of  the  lad's  mis- 


500  TRAJAN. 

erable  follies.  She  saw,  almost  to  the  last  detail,  the  mental 
and  moral  maelstrom  through  which  his  heart  and  con 
science  had  been  swirled  in  the  reaction  brought  about  by 
the  discovery  of  Theo's  systematic  perfidy.  But  when  he 
came  to  himself  she  gave  no  signs  of  the  secrets  divulged  in 
his  wanderings.  When  the  lad's  astonished  eyes  rested  on 
her  in  his  first  moments  of  consciousness,  she  remarked 
blandly  that  he  had  been  like  a  log  during  her  nursing.  He 
recovered  his  sane  faculties  slowly,  and  had  no  notion  of  the 
crisis  through  which  he  had  passed. 

Armitage  had  been  constant  and  devoted  during  his 
friend's  illness.  He  resented  the  spinster's  intrusion  and 
attempted  to  debar  her  the  dangerous  post  of  nurse  during 
the  compromising  outbursts  of  fever.  But  the  Scot  had 
held  her  own  grimly,  and  when  the  final  struggle  came, 
routed  the  enemy  with  such  decisive  vigor  that  he  made  the 
story  the  capsheaf  of  his  grist  when  particularly  expansive 
with  his  cronies. 

"  An'  de  ye  think  I'll  leave  my  bairn  to  your  clumsy  doits 
whan  ye'vc  fetched  him  to  this  pass  ? "  she  asked  with  indig 
nant  scorn  as  she  confronted  him  when  the  struggle  came  ; 
"  after  yer  leadin'  him  into  all  his  diviltries  ;  tush,  mon  ;  ye 
need  na  glower  on  me  at  all,  I'm  no  afeard  of  the  likes  of 
ye,  for  a'  yer  flesh  and  brawn,"  and  she  retired,  closing  the 
door  in  the  discomfited  champion's  face,  and  would  only 
let  him  come  to  the  ante-chamber  until  the  danger  was  over. 
Elliot,  either  by  a  dim  association  of  ideas,  or  a  hint  from 
Armitage,  became  conscious  of  his  old  friend's  knowledge  of 
his  woeful  story — the  extent  of  his  miserable  and  mad  ex 
cesses.  The  sense  of  it  filled  him  with  a  new  agony.  Shame 
was  added  to  remorse,  and  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  he 
was  ashamed  to  look  any  one  in  the  face.  She  instantly 
detected  the  change  from  his  old-fashioned  frank  way,  and 
she  was  cruelly  hurt  by  it. 

She  yearned  to  have  the  hateful  shadow  exorcised,  but  she 
would  have  been  torn  by  wild  horses  sooner  than  pain  him 


LIKE  A   TALE  THAT  IS  TOLD.  501 

by  first  alluding  to  it.  One  day,  however,  letters  from  his 
mother,  Edith  and  Bella,  let  loose  the  fountains  of  the  cul 
prit's  heart.  He  felt  miserably  guilty  and  unworthy  as  the 
sacred  confidences  of  his  kin  fell  like  mingled  balm  and  . 
gall  upon  his  conscience.  In  an  irrepressible  burst  of 
anguish  he  poured  out  the  wretched  story  of  his  weakness 
and  wickedness"  in  the  ears  of  the  sobbing  spinster.  She 
soothed  him,  but  did  not  dwell  on  it,  or  make  light  of  it. 
The  lesson  had  been  bitter,  she  thought  to  herself  cautiously, 
and  she  would  not  impair  its  effects  by  weak  extenuation. 
She  soothed  him  as  she  had  seen  his  mother  many  a  time 
when  he  was  a  "  wee  bairn  "  snuggling  at  her  knees  in  his 
boyish  troubles.  She  could  not,  however,  forbear  to  remind 
him  of  the  baleful  influences  of  an  unholy  passion,  and 
though  she  didn't  mention  Theo's  name,  he  understood  her. 
But  he  colored  at  the  allusion  and  became  silent.  Kate  was 
too  keen  an  observer  and  too  familiar  with  young  people  to 
mistake  from  the  first  the  nature  of  Elliot's  infatuation  for 
Theo. 

She  knew  that  there  was  none  of  the  sanctity  of  hallowed 
love  in  it  ;  none  of  the  impulse  that  binds  hearts,  as  well  as 
hands,  in  a  wholesome  and  purifying  union.  But  she  felt 
that  some  of  the  danger  was  past  and  she  left  him  to  medi 
tate,  fearing  that  her  zeal  might  lead  her  to  say  something 
that  would  arrest  the  current  of  repentance  and  bring  about 
a  reaction.  The  invalid  continued  to  improve  and  the  phy 
sicians  promised  that  he  might  set  out  in  safety  to  join  his 
family  within  a  week,  when  the  morning  after  brought  a 
mandate  he  regarded  as  more  imperative.  With  letters  from 
the  family  came  a  note  in  an  unknown  hand  : 

"  If  Monsieur  Arden  wishes  to  rescue  his  sister  from  an 
adventurer  and  libertine,  he  will  instantly  return  to  Paris, 
and  by  inquiring  for  Madelaine  Tarbes,  No.  70  Rue  des 
Blancs  Manteaux,  he  will  learn  what  this  word  of  warning 
means." 

There  was  no  signature — nothing  to  indicate  the  source, 


502  TRAJAN. 

but  Elliot  instantly  resolved  that  he  would  heed  it.  The 
protests  of  the  medical  men  fell  on  obdurate  ears.  Kate  did 
not  attempt  to  dissuade  him.  He  did  not  confide  the  anony 
mous  message  to  her,  and  she  had  painful  misgivings  that 
Jezebel  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  mystery  whatever  it  was. 
They  were  to  set  out  by  the  tidal  train,  by  Dover  and  Calais, 
at  seven  o'clock.  All  the  afternoon  Kate  was  in  town,  and 
when  she  returned  there  was  an  expression  of  satisfaction  on 
her  face  which  indicated  some  decisive  measure  taken  greatly 
comforting  to  her.  It  was  now  possible  to  return  to  Paris, 
as  the  armistice  made  the  city  free  to  all  who  had  business 
and  could  show  need  of  entrance. 

As  the  family  sat  at  the  breakfast  table  the  next  noon,  the 
wanderer  walked  in  quite  as  though  he  had  not  missed  the 
reunion  a  day.  Edith  saw  him  first  and  rose  with  a  little 
scream  of  joy.  The  subsequent  tableau,  every  body  familiar 
with  the  story  of  the  prodigal  and  the  foolish  emotional 
nature  of  mothers  and  sisters  can  imagine  much  better  than 
a  grave  historical  pen  can  waste  time  in  describing.  There 
was  fully  an  hour  of  the  most  absurd  and  disjointed  narrative, 
begun  at  one  end  of  the  table,  taken  up  in  the  middle,  and 
hopelessly  muddled  at  the  other  end.  Then  questions  answered 
by  others,  and  such  a  medley  that  Kate  declared  it  was 
enough  to  drive  the  lad  back  into  fever. 

"  Fever  !  why  what  do  you  mean,  Kate  ?  Has  Elliot  been 
in  fever  ?" 

"  Well,  as  you  may  say,"  stammered  the  luckless  culprit, 
"  a  fever  of  impatience,  you  know." 

But  the  keen  mother's  eye  was  not  to  be  deceived.  She 
did  not  suspect  the  truth,  but  she  knew  that  her  darling  had 
been  dangerously  ill,  and  she  looked  reproachfully  at  Kate, 
as  any  fond  mother  would  do,  for  depriving  her  of  the  right 
to  nurse  him  back  to  life. 

I  am  confident  that  he  looked  ill  enough  to  justify  her  in 
putting  him  to  bed,  that  she  might  have  the  joy  of  minister 
ing  to  him.  He  laughed  the  suggestion  to  scorn  ;  he  had 


LIKE  A    TALE  THA  7"  IS  TOLD.  503 

scores  of  things  to  do,  and  after  a  day's  rest  he  would  begin 
in  the  morning.  His  arm  was  around  Edith's  waist  as  he 
spoke  and  he  wondered  what  devouring  monster  it  was  that 
threatened  the  perils  at  which  his  anonymous  informer 
hinted.  He  felt  measurably  easy  in  his  mind  so  long  as  he 
was  near  the  little  maiden,  and  astonished  that  young  person 
very  much  by  the  uneasiness  he  manifested  whenever  she 
quit  his  sight  for  a  moment.  The  Prince  d'Amboise  and 
Jules  were,  he  learned,  the  only  gentlemen  visiting  the  house 
regularly. 

Philip,  engaged  on  his  staff  duties,  was  at  Versailles,  and 
Elliot  was  lost  in  wonder  over  the  probable  wolf  sharpening 
his  teeth  for  the  victim. 

The  incoherent  retrospect,  a  mosaic  of  Bella's,  Edith's 
and  his  mother's  reminiscences,  since  the  disastrous  night  at 
Crecy  was  still  in  the  most  inextricable  confusion,  when 
Theo  and  Jules  were  announced.  Kate  almost  fell  on  her 
knees  in  devout  delight  when  Elliot,  with  a  shade  of  annoy 
ance,  asked  his  mother  to  make  his  excuses.  He  was  not 
equal  to  seeing  any  one,  and  forthwith  stretched  himself  on 
the  sofa  with  an  air  of  invalid-like  exhaustion  that  threw 
Kate  into  a  spasm  of  badly-contained  hilarity.  Edith  looked 
on  her  with  large  eyes  of  solemn  reproach  at  such  unseemly 
and  unfeeling  levity,  and  refused  to  be  placated  when  the 
penitent  came  up  and  put  her  arms  around  her  indignant 
neck.  The  call  was  very  short.  So  soon  as  Elliot's  arrival 
and  fatigue  were  made  known,  Theo  arose,  saying  : 

"  I  know  you  grudge  every  instant,  and  I  shall  not  let 
myself  be  associated  in  your  mind  with  such  a  deprivation. 
Come,  Jules  ;  a  house  of  joy,  like  a  house  of  mourning,  is 
no  place  for  the  stranger.  We  shall  hope  to  see  Elliot 
entirely  restored  to  morrow." 

Mrs.  Arden,  touched  by  the  girl's  thoughtfulness,  kissed 
her  affectionately  as  she  passed  out,  and  Jules,  stealing  a 
rueful  glance  at  Bella,  followed  her  with  a  reluctance  that 
left  a  gentle  pang,  not  altogether  devoid  of  pleasure,  in  that 


$04  TRAjAtf. 

young  person's  wayward  heart.  Had  Jules  but  known  it, 
that  trifling  episode  brought  him  nearer  to  the  object  of  his 
dreams  and  hopes  than  all  the  brilliancies  and  gallantries  of 
weeks  of  devotion.  But  who  shall  fathom  the  soul  of  a 
woman,  or  say  when  and  how  she  solves  the  mystic  riddle  of 
her  own  perplexing  heart  ?  Is  the  sphinx  part  of  their 
mother  nature  an  inevitable  inheritance,  and  must  the  love 
that  solves  the  triple  enigma  always  bear  the  CEdipus  destiny 
of  woe  ? 

When  the  personages  of  the  household  were  again  gath 
ered  about  the  reclining  hero,  and  his  anabasis  in  the  Ger 
man  lines  came  up  in  the  exciting  retrospect,  Elliot  was 
reminded  to  ask  if  his  unknown  ally  had  declared  himself. 
If  Trajan  attached  any  importance  to  the  preservation  of 
the  secret,  it  was  a  stroke  of  luck  that  Edith  sate  at  the  head 
of  the  couch,  as  her  radiant  face  "and  tell-tale  eyes  would 
have  instantly  given  the  inquirer  the  clue. 

"Surely  you  must  have  recognized  the  voice,"  said  Bella, 
with  a  disingenuous  evasion  of  direct  assertion  that  would 
have  delighted  that  mistress  of  the  finesse  of  suggestio  falsi^ 
Theo. 

"  That's  the  incomprehensible  part  of  it.  Naturally,  in 
the  agitation  and  wonder  of  the  affair,  I  didn't  think  much 
of  the  agency  ;  but  thinking  it  over  afterward,  the  voice,  as 
it  reached  me  from  the  guard-room,  though  in  the  soft,  thick 
South  German  accent,  sounded  familiar  as  though  I  had 
heard  it  all  my  life  ;  the  whispered  French  he  spoke  to  me 
had  no  more  tone  or  cadence  by  which  to  identify  it,  than  a 
piano- string  muffled  by  cotton.  The  figure  was  familiar, 
and,  in  spite  of  his  denial,  I  am  convinced  it  was  Jules  ;  he 
was  in  that  vicinity,  but  how  he  could  be  on  such  terms  with 
the  Saxon  lieutenant  puzzles  me  !  Have  you  asked  him  ?" 

"  Yes,  and  he  not  only  denies  it,  but  has  established  an 
alibi,"  replied  Mrs.  Arden,  dissatisfied  with  the  part  she  was 
playing. 

"Then  it  must  have  been  one  of  my  Heidelberg  chums 


LIKK  A    TALE   THA  T  IS  TOLD.  505 

who  recognized  me,  and  he  will  clear  the  mystery  after  all 
danger  is  over,"  said  Elliot,  musingly.  "  By  George  !  but 
it  was  an  intrepid  and  beautifully  managed  trick.  It  would 
bring  the  author  to  a  drum-head  if  it  were  ever  found  out. 
Trembling  as  I  was  lest  some  unlucky  chance  should  balk 
me,  I  couldn't  help  laughing  at  the  guard  as  he  fell  over  the 
plotter  when  the  light  went  out."  And  as  he  recalled  the 
comedy,  Elliot  laughed  outright.  "  We  owe  him  some 
money,  too,"  he  added.  "  I  found  six  hundred  francs  in  the 
pocket  of  the  blouse — which  I  never  doubted  you  had  given 
for  the  purpose,"  he  added,  scrutinizing  the  changing  face 
of  his  mother. 

"  No,"  she  said,  glad  to  be  able  to  assert  the  point  unequiv 
ocally  ;  "your  letter  was  the  first  intimation  I  had  of  the 
money  or  the  details  of  your  rescue." 

The  urgent  business  that  the  prodigal  had  hinted  was  not 
undertaken  the  next  day.  The  warning  of  the  doctors  was 
verified.  He  was  quite  prostrated  for  days  after  the  excite 
ment  of  the  sudden  journey,  and  the  family,  ignorant  of  its 
motive,  supposed  the  relapse  the  result  of  over-exertion. 
Philip  came  in  from  Versailles  when  he  heard  of  Elliot's  safe 
return,  and  gave  a  gloomy  account  of  the  political  situation. 
Thiers  and  Simon  were  moving  mountains  to  get  money  to 
pay  the  first  installment  of  the  indemnity.  Partisanship  had 
begun  to  cripple  the  chief  of  the  executive.  The  Radicals 
were  demanding  unheard  innovations  in  local  legislation, 
and  with  the  foolish  arrogance  of  the  accidental  majority 
of  Monarchists  in  the  Assembly,  the  prospects  of  France 
were  gloomy,  if  not  threatening.  A  German  army  corps 
still  garrisoned  the  forts  and  virtually  held  the  city  in  a  state 
of  siege. 

This  enabled  the  agitators,  for  the  most  part  char 
acterless  Poles,  Italians,  Americans,  and  what  not  of  a 
nomadic  sort,  to  keep  up  a  clamorous  contention  with  the 
Assembly  government,  which  it  rancorously  identified  with 
the  invaders,  claiming  that  the  peace  had  been  made  for  a 


506  TRAJAN. 

price,  in  order  that  a  monarch  of  the  House  of  Orleans  or 
Bourbon  might  set  up  a  throne  under  the  protection  of  Bis 
marck's  venal  bayonets.  "  The  worst  of  it,"  Philip  con 
tinued,  "  is,  that  Gambetta,  who  alone  has  influence  with  the 
better  class  and  the  thinking  groups  of  irreconcilables,  has 
been  snubbed  and  vilified  by  Thiers  and  his  familiars,  and 
holds  aloof  from  all  parties.  His  presence  in  Paris  at  this 
hour  would  insure  peaceful  methods  on  the  part  of  the  rev 
olutionists  ;  for  they  know,  however  much  they  may  resent 
his  conservatism,  that  he  is  loyally  democratic.  I  am  greatly 
in  hopes  that  Trajan,  who  has  the  commission  of  the  old 
Radical  guard,  will  prevail  upon  the  Dictator  to  come  back  ; 
for,  unless  he  does,  the  folly  of  the  Monarchists  and  the 
passion  of  the  mob  will  bring  about  a  collision.  If  Aunt 
Cordelia  were  able  to  bear  the  journey,  I  should  advise  quit 
ting  Paris  for  the  present." 

"But  she  is  not  in  condition  to  be  moved,  and  the  phy 
sicians  give  no  hopes  of  it  under  a  month,  if  then,"  said 
Elliot,  in  an  undertone. 

"  The  best  thing  to  be  done,  then,  is  to  move  out  as  little 
as  may  be  in  the  streets,  and  wait  until  the  municipal  gov 
ernment  is  rescued  from  the  domination  of  these  turbulent 
National  Guards." 

When  Elliot,  a  few  days  later,  visited  the  address  given 
in  the  anonymous  letter,  he  was  met  with  ingratiating 
deference  by  the  duenna  Madelaine  Tarbes  who  held 
the  clue  to  Trajan's  alleged  transgressions.  A  tale  of 
Trajan's  turpitude  was  told  him  by  this  artless  old  lady 
that  fairly  froze  the  genial  current  of  Elliot's  liberal  soul. 
It  was  set  forth  with  a  minute  circumstantiality  that  left  no 
hope  of  mistaken  identity  possible;  and  Elliot  returned  with 
a  new  burden  upon  him.  Trajan  must  be  denied  the  house 
hold,  and  Edith  must  be  rescued  from  the  hideous  pitfall 
opening  before  her  innocent  steps.  The  extraordinary  story 
he  had  heard  bewildered  him.  It  was  unlike  any  conduct 
of  which  he  believed  Trajan  capable.  He  would  have  dis- 


LIKE  A    TALE  THA  T  IS  TOLD.  507 

credited  it  with  contempt,  had  it  not  been  that  the  boy 
Amedee  was  with  Trajan.  He  had  seen  him  and  had  marked 
Trajan's  confusion  when  the  little  fellow  came  into  the 
studio  on  that  May  day  long  ago,  when  he  visited  him  for 
the  first  time.  He  would  not,  however,  wholly  condemn 
him  until  he  had  verified  every  detail.  But  until  the  ques 
tion  was  resolved  it  was  plain  that  Edith  should  be  kept 
from  companionship  with  her  lover.  This  seemed  to  him  a 
duty.  He  was  sadly  perplexed  about  its  performance. 

His  sober  face  was  a  signal  for  a  chorus  of  questions  from 
the  domestic  circle  so  soon  as  he  appeared,  but  he  evaded 
all  the  hints  directed  at  him  and  plunged  into  the  common 
places  of  the  day.  His  preoccupation  was  too  transparent 
to  deceive  any  of  the  wondering  group,  and  the  company 
fell  into  silence,  broken  at  last  by  Pierre's  entrance  to 
announce  Jules.  It  was  nearly  the  dinner  hour  when  the 
visitor  arose  to  go,  but  being  urged  to  remain,  he  con 
sented  with  very  evident  pleasure.  The  young  men  having 
gone  into  Elliot's  dressing-room  to  prepare  for  the  table,  he 
led  the  conversation  to  Trajan  without  apparent  design,  and 
learned  that  he  was  expected  in  Paris  the  next  day  from  St. 
Sebastian,  where  he  had  left  Gambetta,  unable  to  persuade 
him  to  come  back  to  Paris. 

"  By  the  way,  speaking  of  Gray,  how  long  have  you  known 
him  !  " 

"  I  have  known  of  him  any  time  for  the  last  seven  years, 
I  think,  but  I  met  him  first  about  two  years  ago." 

As  these  dates  didn't  cover  the  event  upon  which  Elliot 
was  seeking  light,  he  dismissed  the  topic  by  saying  care 
lessly  : 

"He  has  certainly  become  wonderfully  identified  with  men 
and  parties  in  so  short  a  time." 

"  Yes  ;  if  Gray  were  a  Frenchman  he  could  be  minister 
before  ten  years  are  over,"  assented  Jules. 

Elliot  read  confirmation  of  Jules'  news  of  Trajan's 
expected  return  in  Edith's  eyes  as  she  came  to  the  table, 


508  TRAJAN. 

at  which  Elliot  was  strangely  silent  and  gloomy,  affecting 
every  one  by  this  unwonted  humor.  It  was  a  relief  when 
the  meal  came  to  an  end  and  Elliot,  alleging  business  at  the 
Embassy,  went  out  for  the  evening.  He  set  off  toward  the 
Champs  Elysee,  which  still  bore  traces  of  the  winter's  siege. 
Though  it  was  late  in  March,  the  gardens,  usually  lighted, 
were  dark  and  gloomy,  and  the  few  gas  jets  gave  but  a  pale 
glimmer  of  the  old-time  radiance  of  this  broad  way  of  light 
and  life.  His  mind  was  working  in  a  violent  turmoil.  A 
mad  desire  to  see  and  speak  with  Theo,  whom,  on  one  pre 
text  or  another,  he  had  avoided  since  his  return,  possessed 
him  now  that  he  knew  she  had  been  wronged  by  the  asper 
sions  of  Trajan.  He  had  resolved  to  renounce  her  fatal 
charms  in  the  fervor  of  repentance  that  followed  his  recov 
ery,  when  he  thought  her  an  ignoble  adventuress,  playing 
with  honest  love  while  seeking  riches  and  station  only. 

Did  he  not  owe  her  amends  for  his  treason  !  Had  he  not 
blindly  believed  in  her  guilt,  without  giving  her  a  chance  to 
deny  or  disprove  ?  Didn't  the  revelations  of  Madam  Tarbes 
carry  out  her  defiance  to  Trajan  in  the  summer-house  ?  Had 
she  not  shown  angelic  magnanimity  in  refusing  to  expose  and 
discredit  her  maligner  under  a  cruel  provocation  ?  What 
must  she  think  of  his  baseness  in  holding  her  at  arm's  length 
since  his  return  ?  He  resolved  instantly  to  make  amends. 
In  a  moment  he  was  in  a  cab  rolling  toward  the  Arch.  As 
he  turned  into  the  Rue  Galilee,  the  Carnot  apartments  were 
a  blaze  of  light.  Could  it  be  a  fete  ?  Never  mind,  his 
repentance  would  make  him  welcome.  As  he  reached  the 
top  of  the  last  flight  of  stairs,  a  maid  passed  him  swiftly  with 
something  in  her  hands.  He  found  the  door  open,  but  punc 
tiliously  rang  the  bell.  He  waited,  but  no  one  came  to 
answer. 

Entering  the  vestibule,  he  spied  Marion  Grovel  tumbling 
a  cat  at  the  end  of  the  passage-way.  Calling  the  boy, 
he  asked  if  Theo  was  at  home.  Yes,  she  was  in  the 
salon — "  Walk  right  in,"  and  the  boy  pulled  back  the  por- 


LIKE  A    TALE  THAT  IS  TOLD.  509 

ttere,  with  his  back  to  the  interior.  The  door  was  ajar,  and 
near  the  mantel,  laden  with  rare  flowers,  Elliot's  transfixed 
glance  saw  this  spectacle  :  the  Prince  d'Amboise,  with  his 
arms  around  Theo's  waist,  looking  down  into  her  eyes, 
which  could  be  seen  in  the  mirror  upturned  to  his,  flaming 
in  passionate  response  to  those  above  her.  As  Elliot  started 
in  amazement,  the  prince  bent  and  planted  his  mouth  full 
upon  the  pouting  lips.  Marion,  wondering  at  the  visitor's 
stare,  dropped  the  curtain  as  the  cat,  trying  to  evade  him, 
made  a  dash  to  enter.  He  followed  it  into  the  room,  and 
Elliot  could  hear  him  through  the  drapery — 

"  Aunt  Theo,    Mr.  Arden  wants  to  see  you." 

"  Where  is  he?  "     It  was  Theo's   voice. 

"  At  the  door  ;  I  opened  it  for  him,  but  he  won't  come  in. 
He  wants  you  to  ask  him  most  likely." 

In  a  moment  the  door  was  swung  back,  the  curtain  raised 
and  Theo,  flushed  and  enchanting,  stood  under  the  half 
lifted  curtain. 

Elliot  had  moved  back  to  the  hat  rack,  and,  reassured  by 
this,  she  came  forward,  holding  out  both  hands.  Elliot 
would  have  been  unable  to  conceal  his  knowledge  of  the 
scene  in  the  salon  if  the  maid  had  not  entered  the  vestibule 
door  at  the  moment.  He  took  one  hand  decorously,  but 
made  no  response  to  the  ardent  pressure  of  the  unabashed 
witch. 

"  So  you  have  remembered  the  old  love  at  last  ? "  she 
said,  in  tender  reproach. 

"  But  I'm  in  time  before  you're  on  with  the  new  ? " 

"  I  have  a  great  mind  to  make  you  do  penance  for  your 
shameless  neglect." 

"  I  have  already  done  penance  ;  it  is  absolution  I  need 
now." 

"  Ah — I  shall  prescribe  conditions  first." 

"  The  conqueror  it  is  who  imposes  terms  ? " 

"  Then  prepare  for  Prussian  exactions  ;  but  come,  there 
is  an  old  friend  in  the  salon — guess  who  ? " 


510  TRAJAN. 

"  If  the  empire  were  not  abolished  I  should  say  Napoleon 
— as  the  empire  is  gone,  perhaps  Gambetta." 

"  You  saucy  fellow  ;  my  king  is  not  of  that  sort,"  and  she 
threw  a  bewildering  glance  from  the  flashing,  parti-colored 
eyes. 

"  Monsieur  d'Amboise,"  she  continued,  "  here  is  the 
heroic  exile,  returned  from  the  Valley  of  Death." 

"  A  thousand  welcomes,  then,  Monsieur  Arden  ;  alas,  the 
Valley  of  Death — it  is  Paris,  in  the  hands  of  the  vile  Prus 
sians,"  said  the  prince,  as  he  held  out  both  hands  with  the 
fervor  of  his  race. 

Elliot  was  afraid  he  was  going  to  add  the  kiss  with  which 
that  demonstrative  race  mark  their  cordiality,  and  kept  his 
arms  quite  rigid,  as  a  barrier  against  this  embarrassing 
token. 

"  Ah,  cher  Monsieur,  we  have  not  met  since  the  great 
malheur.  I  have  never  smiled  since  Sedan — I  assure  you — 
my  heart  is  buried  with  the  glories  of  France.  The  world 
has  lost  all  charms  for  me,"  and  the  hapless  patriot  clasped 
his  hands,  while  his  loyal  bosom  burst  with  a  profound 
sigh. 

"  But  there  ought  to  be  charms  left  in  a  world  like  this, 
filled  with  adorable  consolers,  whose  eyes  and  lips  should 
make  a  man  see  roses  on  the  gates  of  Hades,"  and  Elliot 
glanced  gallantly  at  Theo,  who  blushed  in  the  demurest  way 
imaginable,  as  the  innocent  Chloe  when  Philander  becomes 
too  ardent  in  the  Sylvan  groves. 

"  Ah,  cher  Monsieur,  but  you  others — you  can  not  under 
stand  the  love  a  Frenchman  bears  the  patrie.  Other  peo 
ple  are  the  citizens  of  a  country,  we  are  the  children  of  the 
patrie.  Read  our  ballads,  read  our  legends,  it  is  as  a  fond 
mother,  a  mistress,  that  France  is  idealized  and  adored. 
Her  sons  decorate  her  with  the  garlands  of  glory  and  die 
with  joy  rather  than  let  her  bosom  bear  a  scar,  her  honor 
receive  a  tarnish.  You  cold-blooded,  passionless  Saxons, 
you  can  not  figure  this  to  yourselves.  Your  country  is  a 


LIKE  A    TALE   THA  T  IS  TOLD.  5  1 1 

vast  wilderness,  your  compatriots  a  melange.  There  is  no 
brotherhood  in  the  tie  that  binds  you.  In  France  we  are 
children — spoiled  children,  perhaps.  It  is  this  which  ex 
plains  the  tumult  of  the  masses,  the  caprice  of  the  rich,  the 
languor  of  the  noblesse.  We  love  to  break  into  the  excesses 
of  the  prodigal,  and  when  we  have  run  riot  return  to  good 
order  and  be  petted  as  the  spoiled  darlings  of  the  race. 
Even  in  our  abasement,  we  are  the  pride  and  wonder  of  the 
world,"  and,  lighting  up  with  the  consolation  of  this  pleasant 
conviction,  the  melancholy  prince  stroked  his  mustache  and 
looked  about  him  as  a  prophet  who  has  castigated  the  sins 
of  his  people  and  then  healed  the  wounds  with  a  holy  balm. 

"  You  are  certainly  a  wonderful  race,"  assented  Elliot, 
cautiously  ;  "  but  what  is  this  we  hear  of  a  civic  outbreak 
against  the  Versailles  government  ?  " 

"  Oh,  the  blague  of  a  few  feather-heads.  MacMahon  is 
now  at  the  head  of  the  army,  and  he  will  quell  the  unquiet 
by  his  very  name — " 

"  I  trust  so,  I'm  sure,  for  I  shouldn't  like  to  be  in  the  city 
if  the  Reds  took  the  notion  to  test  the  defenses  made  by  Na 
poleon  against  internal  enemies." 

Theo  arose  as  he  spoke  and  met  a  group  of  ladies  at  the 
door.  Some  of  them  Elliot  knew,  and  the  conversation  fell 
off  into  topics  of  the  day.  Presently  some  one  asked  for 
music,  and  the  prince  politely  escorted  Theo  to  the  piano. 
Her  voice  was  an  agreeable  one,  and  she  sang  the  airs  in 
vogue  with  charming  expression.  After  a  time  she  rose, 
asking  one  of  the  company  to  sing,  and  relinquished  her 
place  at  the  instrument. 

Elliot  had  walked  out  and  was  seated  on  the  balcony, 
where  presently,  the  prince  still  officiating  at  the  piano,  Theo 
joined  him. 

"  You  have  really  been  very  ill,  bien  aime.  I  see  it  in 
your  face.  I  can  tell  it  in  your  manner  " — she  slipped  her 
hand  gently  into  his — "  why  didn't  you  write  me  a  word — 
you  knew  how  I  suffered — " 


512  TRAJAN. 

"  You  suffered  ? "  he  said,  breathing  hard  and  tightening 
the  clasp  on  her  hand  until  she  uttered  a  little  cry  of  pain  ; 
"  why  did  you  suffer,  you  couldn't  doubt  the  fidelity  of  real 
love  ? " 

"Ah — but  I  didn't  know  what  was  befalling  you.  At  the 
Rue  Francois  Premier,  no  one  would  talk  of  you  but  your 
mother.  Kate  and  Edith  are  partisans  of  Trajan  and  he,  as 
you  know,  bears  me  no  good  will." 

Elliot  started  ;  he  turned  and  looked  at  her,  as  the  soft 
lights  from  within  fell  on  her  round  lovely  face.  Had  he 
been  dreaming  ?  Surely,  that  guileless  face  could  not  be  the 
mask  of  such  odious  treason  as  he  had  witnessed  but  a  half 
hour  before.  And  Trajan,  too,  she  had  spoken  of  him  fear 
lessly.  There  could  be  no  guilt  in  such  confidence  and 
candor. 

"  You  told  me  once  that  you  would  reveal  the  cause  of 
your  repulsion  to  Trajan — tell  me  now.  There  is  an  im 
portant  reason,  or  I  wouldn't  ask." 

The  green  in  the  eyes  intensified  to  blackness — a  gleam  of 
intelligence,  as  of  a  doubt  suddenly  dissolved,  an  end  won, 
glanced  for  a  moment  in  the  shining  orbs  and  then,  in  a  low 
tone,  she  made  answer  : 

"  No,  Elliot,  I  have  often  thought  of  my  promise  since.  If 
Trajan  can  make  his  way  and  be  happy,  I  have  no  right  to 
put  an  obstacle  in  his  path  ;  no,  dearest,  you  must  not  ask 
me.  I  can  tell  you  no  more." 

"  You  have  told  me  enough,"  he  murmured,  sorely 
troubled  by  the  web  in  which  he  dimly  realized  he  was 
floundering.  "  Let  us  talk  no  more  of  him.  How  does  the 
prince's  suit  prosper  with  Bella  ?  " 

She  tried  to  read  his  face  before  answering,  but  it  was  in 
the  shade  and  she  could  only  catch  the  profile  as  he  bent 
over  her  in  the  shadow  of  the  curtain. 

"Your  aunt's  illness  has  kept  Bella  so  occupied  that  the 
prince  has  but  rarely  seen  her  since  she  returned  to  Paris.  I 
think  he  is  making  up  his  mind  to  lose  her.  He  declares 
that  she  is  fyris  of  Trajan." 


LIKE  A    TALE   THAT  IS  TOLD.  513 

"  What !  " 

"  The  prince  declares  that  Bella  loves  Trajan  wildly." 

"  The  scoundrel  !  How  dare  he — I  will — " 

Elliot's  voice  had  become  so  loud  and  hoarse  that  Theo 
rose  in  alarm  and  put  her  hands  on  his  lips. 

"  Hush — for  Heaven's  sake — don't  make  a  scene!  Remem 
ber  he  is  a  jealous  man  and  construes  Bella's  American  free 
dom  with  a  young  man  received  as  one  of  the  family,  as  any 
Frenchman  would  who  doesn't  understand  our  liberal  ideas 
of  propriety." 

"  But  from  the  way  you  repeated  the  prince,  I  inferred 
that  you  too  believed  the  scandal."  said  Elliot,  chafing  in 
unaccountable  rage. 

"  Why  a  scandal  ?  I'm  sure  I  loved  Trajan  once,  until — 
until — " 

"  Until  you  found  him  an  adventurer  ?  " 

"  I  declare,  you  are  in  an  emphatic  mood  to-night.  I'm 
afraid  to  open  my  lips — lest  I  shall  come  in  for  some  of  your 
emphatic  testimonials  ;  but,  if  you  ask  my  opinion,  I  do 
think  that  Bella  is  in  love  with  Trajan.  Think  it  over  your 
self,  and  see  the  string  of  probabilities  outside  of  the  evi 
dences  she  gave  when  I  saw  them  together — " 

"  What  evidences  ? "  gasped  Elliot,  hoarsely. 

u  Who  can  put  in  words  the  thousand  trifles  that  go  to 
mark  a  woman's  joy  in  the  nearness  of  the  man  she  loves  ; 
how  put  in  the  bald  and  meaningless  fabric  of  words  the 
change  in  the  manner,  the  varying  hues  of  color,  the  trem 
ulous  shade  of  the  shadow  of  tone,  the  elastic  step,  the  pre 
texts  found  to  touch,  if  only  the  glove,  or  cane,  of  the  object 
of  this  mute  idolatry — tenfold  more  devouring,  that  it  can  not 
be  spoken — the  roseate  life  of  lip  and  cheek  ?  How  tell  all 
these  and  make  them  comprehensible  to  an  indulged  Adonis 
like  you,  who  only  believe  you  are  loved,  when  your  slaves 
put  their  neck  under  your  lordly  feet  ? " 

"  You  have  seen  all  this  in  Bella  ?  " 

"  I  have  seen  all  this  ;  and  when   I   add  Bella's  transcen- 
33 


5I4  TRAJAN. 

dental  notions,  her  enthusiasm  for  the  bizarre  and  heroic, 
her  sense  of  gratitude  to  Trajan  for  that  superb  contest 
in  which  her  life  was  the  stake — I  can  not  wonder  that 
she  should  love  him.  Remember  what  you  once  told  me 
of  her  penchant  for  the  declasse  heroes  like  Tito  and  Lord 
Kew,  and  you  surely  can  not  wonder  that  Trajan  has 
taken  hold  of  her  imagination  ?  " 

"  Does  Trajan — share — does  Trajan  know — does  he  love 
her  ?  " 

Theo  mused  a  moment — for  all  the  world  like  one  who 
has  arranged  a  dialogue  beforehand  and,  when  it  comes  to 
pass,  forgets  the  alternative  sequiter.  Her  mind  was  invent 
ive,  not  logical,  and  she  couldn't  decide  whether  yes  or  no 
would  better  further  her  purpose. 

"  I  sometimes  think  he  does,  but  I  have  seen  him  so  little 
that  I  really  should  not  say." 

She  sat  silent,  waiting  for  a  reply,  but  none  came.  The 
music  had  ceased  in  the  salon,  and  she  rose,  urging  her 
duty  as  hostess. 

"  I  will  follow  you  presently  and  make  my  adieux.  I  don't 
feel  equal  to  the  insipidities  of  a  conversazione  now.  Come 
in  to-morrow  with  Jules  and  see  Aunt  Caroline  ;  she  is  now 
able  to  lie  on  the  sofa." 

She  stood  so  near  him  that  he  could  have  kissed  her  lips 
as  she  put  her  hand  out.  He  looked  away  as  he  pressed  it, 
and,  almost  snatching  it  from  him,  with  a  rustle  of  silk  and 
gleam  of  jewels  she  vanished.  He  sate  for  a  long  time  with 
his  head  buried  in  his  hands,  lost  in  the  maze  the  sorceress 
had  set  for  him. 

Trajan,  Bella,  Theo  — all  unfaithful — could  he  trust  any 
one  ?  Would  Edith,  too,  take  a  pull  at  his  heart  strings  ? 
There  was  a  long  hush  in  the  gabble  of  the  salon.  He  looked 
in.  The  room  was  deserted.  Rising,  he  slipped  quietly 
through  to  the  vestibule,  as  the  voices  of  the  party  resounded 
from  the  salle  a  manger. 

On  entering  the   house   on  the  Rue  Frangois  Premier,  he 


LIKE  A    TALE   THAT  IS  TOLD.  515 

directed  Pierre  to  see  if  Edith  was  still  up  and,  if  she  were, 
to  send  her  to  him.  He  had  barely  time  to  put  on  his  slip 
pers  and  dressing  robe,  when  the  well  known  tap  was  heard 
at  the  door. 

Edith  tripped  in,  beaming.  There  was  but  one  joy  to  her 
equal  to  that  of  hugging  and  spoiling  this  adored  brother. 
His  heart  grew  lighter  at  sight  of  her.  He  took  her  face 
between  his  two  hands  as  she  kneeled  on  the  cushion  at  his 
feet.  The  odious  atmosphere  of  deceit  lifted  from  him 
and  he  saw  with  something  of  his  natural  boyish  trustful 
ness — serene  in  conscious  honor. 

"  Neddy,  girl,  you  never  tell  lies,  do  you  ?  " 

"  What  a  question  ?  " 

"But  answer  it,  I  command  you,"  and  he  looked  love  and 
confidence  in  the  startled  blue  eyes. 

"  Of  course  I  don't — that  is  I  did  tell  Kate  a  fib  once,  but 
it  was  to  save  '  somebody  '  annoyance,"  and  she  blushed, 
guiltily. 

"  A  fib  isn't  a  lie,"  said  the  mentor,  with  an  easy  indiffer 
ence  to  the  moralities  ;  "you  don't  tell  lies — that's  enough. 
Now  answer  me  :  Does  Bella  love  the  Prince  d'Amboise  ? " 

"No." 

"Sure?" 

"Positive." 

"  Does  she  love  any  one  ?" 

"  Ah,  that  wouldn't  be  fair  ;  you  couldn't  expect  me  to 
answer  that." 

"  But  I  do,  and  you  must.     Whom  does  Bella  love? " 

"  She  never  told  me." 

"  Did  you  ever  ask  her  ? " 

"  No  ;  I  never  did.  I  never  asked  you,  but  I  know  whom 
you  love,  or,"  she  added,  turning  crimson,  "whom  you  did 
love  once." 

"  And  whom  did  I  love  once,  Ned  ?  " 

"  Bella." 

"When?" 


516  TRAJAN. 

"  Before — before  we  went  to  Crecy." 

"  Are  you  sure  ?  How  do  you  know  ?  What  did  you 
judge  by  ? " 

"  I  am  sure,  we  all  knew  it — Bella  knew  it.  I  can  tell, 
because  I  have  seen — 'somebody'  do  just  as  you  used 
to  do." 

"  Have  you  seen  any  *  somebody  '  do  as  I  used  to  do 
when  Bella  is  absent,  since  Crecy  ? " 

"Yes." 

Elliot  started,  and  the  next  question  was  in  the  voice  of 
quite  another  person — a  person  in  mortal  dread — shrinking, 
yet  forced  to  confront  some  dreaded  thing. 

"  Who  have  you  seen  giving  these  signs  of  love  for  Bella  ?  " 

"  Jules  Carnot  ;  he  adores  her." 

Edith  felt  her  brother's  frame  collapse  as  if  from  a  mighty 
tension.  He  held  up  her  chin  and  looked  intently  into  the 
wondering  eyes,  then  with  a  sigh  of  ineffable  satisfaction  he 
asked  : 

"  Does  Bella  know  of  Jules'  love  ?  " 

"  Did  any  woman  ever  meet  a  man  twice  who  loved  her 
and  remain  ignorant  ? " 

"  Yes  ;  you  let  a  man  propose  to  you  once  and  never 
dreamed  that  he  thought  any  thing  more  of  you  than  he  did 
of  me." 

"  But  I  was  a  child  then.     How  should  I  know  ? " 

"  That,  however,  proves  that  your  rule  has  exceptions. 
Does  Bella  encourage  Jules'  love  ?  in  other  words  does  she 
love  him  ?  " 

"  She  doesn't  as  yet,  but  she  pities  him,  and  if — if " 

"  If  what  ?  " 

"  If  somebody  were  to  marry  somebody  else,  she  would 
not  refuse  Jules,  and  I  fancy — but  one  can't  tell  these 
things." 

"  Who  is  the  somebody  ?  "  For  answer  she  stretched  up 
her  arms,  and  drawing  his  head  down  kissed  him  into 
silence, 


LIKE  A    TALE   THAT  IS  TOLD.  517 

"  Do  you  believe  it  ?  " 

"  I  know  it."  He  leaned  back  in  the  deep  chair,  and 
she,  folding  her  arms  on  his  knee,  as  she  had  done  when 
she  was  a  small  maid  in  pinafores,  presented  the  picture  of 
the  Raphael  cherub  strayed  from  its  companion  angel.  He 
had  called  her  in  with  the  determination  to  command  her  to 
see  Trajan  no  more.  He  had  not  meant  to  divulge  the 
cause,  simply  warning  her  that  love  between  them  was 
impossible,  marriage  out  of  the  question.  But  the  avowal 
he  had  so  dextrously  extracted,  revealing  the  chance  he 
still  held  to  win  Bella,  filled  him  with  such  joy  that  the 
Draconian  edict  was  too  much  for  him  to  pronounce. 

Misery  courts  company,  even  in  love,  you  will  observe. 
This  young  gentleman,  who  had  hovered  about  the  object 
of  his  devotions  all  his  life  ;  who  grew,  if  not  indifferent,  at 
all  events,  over-confident  ;  who  had  gone  after  the  woman 
whose  feet,  according  to  the  book,  lead  to  hell,  would  have 
held  the  black  draught  to  these  innocent  lips,  which  had 
just  prattled  life  to  his  hope,  without  a  commiserating  pang, 
had  it  been  death  she  had  announced  to  his  hope  ! 

Truly,  indeed,  when  we  see  through  a  glass  darkly,  the  mind 
takes  the  line  of  the  vision.  He  had  come  from  lips  that 
insinuated  disloyalty  and  deceit,  and  his  soul  was  filled 
with  unbelief.  He  had  looked  in  this  pure  well  of  undefiled 
innocence,  and  he  hated  himself  for  the  burden  he  bore,  and 
shrank  from  clouding  the  azure  of  her  horizon  with  the 
black  cloud  that  for  the  moment  had  discolored  the  firma 
ment  to  his  own  vision.  His  perplexity  grew  into  anguish, 
and  that  anguish  touched  the  spring  of  tears  as  he  looked 
down  into  the  trustful  eyes  watching  the  play  of  his 
features.  Her  utter  unconsciousness  of  the  coming  blow 
terrified  him.  How  should.it  be  broken  to  her?  Who 
should  wither  her  spotless  purity  with  this  baleful  blast  of 
iniquity  ?  He  started  angrily  to  his  feet,  hardly  noticing  the 
disturbed  figure,  and  swore  to  himself  that  he  would  bury 
the  secret  rather  than  this  angel  should  be  made  wretched. 


518  TRAJAN. 

Trajan  had  grown  older  since  this  foul  crime.  He  knew 
the  ways  of  young  men  ;  he  knew  how  few  resist  tempta 
tion.  Indeed,  could  he  claim  to  be  unspotted  from  the 
world  ?  He  thought  of  his  immediate  past  with  a  guilty 
shock  as  the  relapses  of  the  winter  suddenly  rose  up  in 
lurid  judgment  before  him.  He  had  repented  in  shame 
unutterable  ;  his  punishment  was  with  him  every  hour  of 
the  day  as  he  met  the  trustful  eyes  of  his  mother.  Trajan, 
too — might  he  not  have  done  bitter  penance  for  his  sin  ? 

Was  it  in  expiation  of  that  he  had  determined  on  a  sui 
cide's  ignoble  end  ?  Providence  had  made  him,  Elliot,  the 
instrument  to  save  him  ;  was  it  the  part  assigned  by  Provi 
dence  to  finish  that  work  by  denying  him  a  chance  to  prove 
his  purpose  to  be  an  honest  man  ?  All  he  had  seen  of 
Trajan  pleaded  for  indulgence.  His  nature  was  noble,  in 
spite  of  the  hideous  aberration  of  his  youth.  What  man  of 
sensibility  of  heart  could  fall  under  the  angelic  witchery  of 
Edith  without  purification  and  strength  to  do  better  and 
manlier  things  ?  In  any  event,  he  was  not  in  the  frame  of 
mind  to  deal  with  the  problem  now.  He  would,  perhaps, 
take  Kate  into  his  confidence,  or,  perhaps,  Philip — yes, 
Philip's  coolness  and  knowledge  of  the  world  would  help 
him  out  of  the  difficulty.  This  solution  gave  him  some 
comfort,  and  he  then  bethought  him  of  the  poor  child 
watching  him  in  large-eyed  wonder.  When  the  brother  and 
sister  kissed  the  good-night  parting,  both  felt  nearer  than 
they  had  been  since  the  wicked  shadow  of  Theo  had  dark 
ened  the  doorway  of  their  intimacy. 


HORROR'S  HEAD.  519 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 
HORROR'S  HEAD. 

OARIS  meanwhile  had  plunged  with  brute  ferocity  into 
1  a  frenzy  of  colossal  combat.  Buried  in  the  aristo 
cratic  seclusion  of  their  quarter,  most  unlike  any  of  the 
segments  of  the  vast  circle  that  embraces  the  inveterately 
unruly  of  a  schwarmerei,  that  thinks,  resolves,  acts  for  a 
whole  nation,  the  Ardens  had  only  a  confused  sense  of  the 
lurid  flames  that  lighted  the  horizon  about  them.  Even  the 
Attila  incursion  of  the  northern  hordes  on  the  first  of 
March  came  to  their  ears  through  the  exaggerated  reports 
of  Pierre  and  the  domestics,  who  had  slipped  out  to 
the  Champs  Elysees  to  fix  basilisk  eyes  upon  the  conquer 
ing  columns  as  they  glittered  by  in  the  glorious  sunshine  of 
that  fatal  day.  They  knew  that  uneasiness  was  thick  in  the 
atmosphere,  that  many  of  their  timid  neighbors  had  locked 
their  palaces  and  fled,  until  the  uncertainty  should  be 
brought  to  an  end.  The  daily  journals,  conscious  of  the 
dragon  crop  sown  during  the  siege,  told  only  half  truths 
during  the  weeks  the  hell  broth  of  social  rapine  was  stewing 
in  the  fetid  purlieus  of  the  malefactors.  It  was  knowledge 
of  the  direful  mischief  brewing  that  impelled  Trajan  to  risk 
the  lives  of  those  he  loved,  in  the  fruitless  mission  to 
Gambetta.  The  Republican  Autochthon  was  not  sulking, 
Achilles-like,  in  his  Pyrenean  retreat.  He  was  really  ill. 
Trajan  found  the  man  who  for  five  months  held  the  purse 
of  France,  through  whose  hands  millions  had  passed  sub 
ject  to  his  own  account  alone,  buried  in  two  little  rooms 
over  a  grocer's  shop  in  St.  Sebastian.  He  listened  to  the 
young  man's  story  of  the  dangerous  drift  of  the  Mobiles 
and  Nationals,  but  shook  his  head  when  he  wound  up  by 
imploring  him  to  come  to  the  rescue  of  law  and  order  ; 
the  rescue  of  the  Republic,  reeling  into  the  abyss  of 
anarchy. 


526  TRAJAN. 

"  No,"  he  said,  "  Thiers  brands  me  as  a  *  furious  mad 
man  ;  '  Grevy  declares  before  the  Assembly  that  I  shall  die 
in  the  skin  of  a  revoltee.  I  shall  take  care  to  keep  clear  of 
all  factions,  until  France  recovers  from  her  present  shock. 
Have  no  fear  for  the  Republic.  After  Sedan  Imperialism  is 
forever  at  an  end  ;  the  robber  gang  of  Orleans  are  barred 
by  the  memory  of  that  skinflint  pilferer,  the  royal  Macaire, 
Louis  Philippe  ;  there  is  but  one  Bourbon,  the  Count  de 
Chambord.  He  is  an  imbecile  like  all  his  race,  and  France 
need  not  fear  him.  Within  two  years  I  shall  be  at  the 
head  of  a  party  which  will  lead  France  to  the  rational 
system  your  great  Jefferson  implanted  in  America.  Besides," 
he  added  gloomily,  "  the  committee  is  mistaken.  I  should 
have  no  influence  in  Paris  at  this  time.  The  revoltees 
would  not  heed  me,  and  the  men  of  principle  could  not 
help  me.  The  disease  is  in  the  blood  of  Paris,  sweltered 
into  venom  by  twenty  years  of  quackery.  It  must  come 
out  before  it  can  be  treated.  This  is  as  good  a  time  as  any. 
Let  the  Assembly  incapables  and  their  tools,  the  ministry, 
experiment.  They  will  soon  learn  that  ruling  and  plotting 
are  two  different  metiers.  I  have  no  concern  about  France 
or  myself.  My  time  will  come." 

No  pleading  could  shake  this  resolution,  re-enforced  by 
the  physician's  peremptory  assertion,  that  without  rest  the 
ex-dictator  would  collapse  within  a  week,  and  that  he  could 
not  guarantee  his  restoration  even  with  rest.  With  gloomy 
forebodings  Trajan  laid  the  result  of  his  mission  before  a 
committee  consisting  wholly  of  the  men  then  and  afterward 
most  intimately  identified  with  Gambetta.  They  heard  it 
with  despair,  for  even  then,  (it  was  the  morning  of  the  i8th 
of  March)  the  city  was  virtually  in  the  hands  of  the  male 
factors.  The  government  troops  had  been  defeated  in  an 
attempt  to  carry  off  the  cannon  on  Montmartre,  almost  in 
the  heart  of  the  most  populous  quarter,  and  the  regulars  of 
the  line  were  deserting  en  masse  to  join  their  brethren  under 
the  red  flag  of  the  Commune.  The  generals  Clement, 


HORROR* S  HEAD.  5  2 1 

Thomas  and  Lecompte  had  been  seized  and  were  to  be  tried 
before  a  military  court  the  next  day.  The  adventurers  had 
formed  a  central  committee,  omnipotent  in  the  quarters. 
Rothschild  and  the  Bank  of  France  had  been  forced  to 
supply  funds — an  advance  of  five  millions  under  penalty  of 
pillage.  Proclamations  had  been  sent  out  to  the  provinces, 
inviting  a  federal  union  of  communes  and  the  decentraliza 
tion  of  power.  Decrees  had  been  issued  forbidding  egress 
from  the  city  on  any  pretext,  and  another  subjecting  every 
able-bodied  male  to  conscription  in  the  ranks  of  the  national 
guard.  But  the  law  of  brute  reprisal  did  not  end  there. 
Every  male,  wheresoever  found,  must  show  a  badge  indi 
cating  his  company  and  regiment.  Any  impulsive  patriot 
in  the  street  was  empowered  to  demand  the  badge,  and  a 
failure  to  produce  it  was  followed  by  a  march  to  the  nearest 
court. 

Men  were  plenty.  The  masters  of  the  imperial  city, 
suddenly  transformed  from  the  modest  functions  of  butch 
ers,  tinkers,  joiners  and  shoemakers,  saw  the  lamps  of 
the  new  destinies  of  the  race  lighted  by  the  tinsel  they  had 
so  lately  abhorred.  Texas  is  not  more  lavish  in  titles  of  a 
warlike  sort.  Though  the  title  of  general  had  been  abol 
ished  by  the  Spartans  of  the  committee,  brigadiers'  insignia 
decorated  every  third  man  met.  While  the  Draconian  code 
was  promulgated  in  one  breath,  the  nicest  problems  of 
ethics  were  resolved  with  a  Platonic  lucidity  that  entitle  the 
thinkers  to  a  place  in  the  Pantheon  of  the  legists. 

Any  woman  proving  an  intimate  amour  with  a  thoughtless 
Lothario,  was  by  her  own  mere  say-so  accepted  into  the  new 
dispensation  as  a  legitimate  wife.  Any  castaway,  whatever 
the  ceremonial  discrepancies  existing  at  his  birth,  was 
declared  loin  and  limb,  heir  and  hope  of  the  astonished 
author  of  his  or  her  birth.  Never,  indeed,  was  a  world  made 
virtuous,  if  not  sinless,  with  such  facility.  The  title  deeds 
of  all  property  were  ordered  to  be  burned,  that  the  brother 
hood  of  man  might  begin  on  truly  equal  terms.  Tragedy 


522  TRAJAN. 

sullen,  stupendous  and  vague,  took  on  the  mask  of  laughter, 
holding  both  her  sides.  Passion  exhaling  monstrosities  that 
invested  pigmies  with  great  powers  ;  hate  searching  victims, 
cupidity  turning  gullibility  and  timidity  to  treason — a 
jocund,  terrible  madness  epidemic,  brooding  like  a  colossal 
devil-fish,  its  antennae  reaching  into  every  crevice  of  human 
activity  and  collapsing  to  gorge  itself  under  cover  of  blind 
ing  showers  of  blood. 

Apparitions — ghosts  of  men  and  laws,  and  forms,  and  cus 
toms  of  things  that  were  neither  might,  nor  right,  regnant  ; 
the  fool's  cap  on  the  fool's  crown,  and  the  blood  of  the  inno 
cent  and  guilty  alike  in  the  maddening  cup.  Incessant 
aberration  of  sidereal  flame.  Life  a  joke,  death  a  mock 
ery,  religion  a  legend,  love  a  travesty.  Traffic  stilled,  yet 
human  want  rampant  ;  the  ancient  reign  of  night,  unbroken 
by  a  gleam  of  the  light  of  sixty  centuries  of  mind  ;  the 
light  chariot  wheels  of  vanity  replaced  by  the  Juggernaut  of 
Maniacy,  bearing  to  the  baying  canon  the  mocking  satyrs  of 
godless  frenzy  ;  misery,  squalor,  crime,  panoplied  in  the 
splendor  of  state,  no  longer  prowling  night  birds,  shunned 
and  obscene,  but  masters  of  the  tabernacles  of  all  the  holies 
of  life. 

A  season  of  stertorous  breath  and  piteous  comedy  ; 
of  strutting  manikins  and  dismal  imbecilities,  not  solemn 
ized  into  the  tragic  by  even  the  Satanic  unction  of  blood. 
Open  putrefactions  and  escaping  social  vapors  of  the  dankest 
and  unseemliest  smell  and  form.  Men  dying  gayly  and 
sadly  ;  women  dying  vauntingly  and  pathetically  ;  babes 
born  into  a  cataclysm  of  the  horrible,  the  unnatural. 

A  prodigious  vat  of  fermenting  hates,  revenges,  loves,  despair 
and,  grotesque  enough, — sublunary  ambition.  All  the  city 
houseless,  for  doors  were  barred  in  vain.  Terror  was  the 
sesame  that  turned  every  lock,  made  the  blind  to  see,  the 
lame  to  fly,  the  cripple  to  stand  erect.  Sorrow  and  fear 
and  hope  there  were,  but  masked  in  a  bleary  joyfulness  ; 
prayer,  devotion  and  truth,  but  clothed  in  profanity,  treason 


HORROR' S  HE  A  D.  523 

and  profligacy  ;  where  theft  was  the  law,  vice  was  no  longer 
secretive  or  coward  ;  where  the  lusts  of  the  flesh  were  the 
rule,  hypocrisy  held  her  hands  idle.  The  rights  of  man  were 
riot,  pillage,  violence,  rapine,  murder,  and  its  weapon  the  law  of 
the  suspect. 

A  whisper  was  an  indictment,  a  hearing  a  sentence, 
a  sentence,  death.'  Two  million  people,  three-fourths  guilt 
less,  ruled  by  one-fourth  sinless,  too,  for  since  there 
was  no  law  there  could  be  no  crime  !  Two  millions  of 
people  huddled  on  a  patch  of  ground,  divided  from  each 
other  by  walls  of  brick  and  streets  and  a  river,  but  never  for 
a  moment  out  of  each  other's  sight — bound  indissolubly 
by  the  hideous  fetters  of  common  complicity  and  common 
fear. 

Under  the  reign  of  this  primeval  law,  as  there  was  no 
crime  there  were  no  prisons  ;  and  the  malefactor  was  the 
equal  of  the  social  tyrant  who,  under  the  suspension  of  this 
new  code,  had  sentenced  him  to  seclusion.  The  first  right  of 
man  being  the  right  to  slaughter,  the  guillotine  is  solemnly 
burned  in  the  public  street,  as  the  godless  memorial  of  patri 
arch  genuflexion — in  the  anger  of  the  elect.  Precedent  was 
a  superstition — precedent  was  abolished  ;  habit  a  slavery — 
the  million  were  manumitted  from  it.  Privacy  a  treason — it 
was  declared  suspect  ;  non-citizenship  an  evasion — it  was  dis 
regarded.  Were  not  all  men  equal  ?  What  matter,  then,  if 
born  in  Siberia  or  Patagonia,  under  the  reign  of  liberty, 
equality  and  fraternity  all  were  children  of  the  one  mother, 
Paris. 

This,  in  a  word,  was  the  political  and  social  existence  of 
Paris  from  March  2oth  to  May  24th,  when  a  climax  came, 
to  which  the  foregoing  summary  is  as  a  holiday  parade  to 
actual  war.  The  ten  weeks  not  only  dealt  discomfiture 
to  the  carefully  prepared  triumphs  of  our  charming  Theo, 
but  wrought  her  disaster,  which  I  am  sure  the  magnani 
mous  reader  will  regard  as  abundant  expiation  for  the 
ungenerous  use  she  has  thus  far  made  of  her  matchless 


524  TRAJAN. 

penetration,  beauty  and  cleverness.  If  our  pleasant  vices 
return  to  plague  us,  our  sins  come  back  to  punish,  and  there 
fore  let  us  be  grateful  that  we  are  not  gifted — let  us  be  con 
tent  that  we  are  only  hum-drum.  That  a  tender  smile  from 
Joan  or  Darby  fills  us  with  joy,  that  a  glimpse  now  and  then 
of  the  luxuries  of  this  world,  in  the  grand  palace  of  our 
neighbor  Croesus,  does  not  make  us  discontented  with  our 
two-story  brick,  the  shabby  hall,  the  stuffy  parlor  and  the 
third  appearance  of  Sunday's  roast  in  the  middle  of  the 
week  !  For  what  shall  it  profit  you  repining  for  a  gig,  a 
summer  villa,  a  Paisley  shawl,  or  any  other  form  or 
species  of  gimcrack,  if  to  get  and  to  hold,  you  are  dragged 
into  ways  and  means  that  give  the  world  a  right  to  hale  you 
before  the  high  court  of  public  opinion,  where  the  proud 
man's  scorn  and  the  whips  and  scorpions  of  envy  have  a 
right  to  fall  upon  and  lash  you  ? 

Never  was  Theo  so  satisfied  with  her  ministry  of  deceit 
and  craft  as  when  she  quitted  Elliot  on  the  balcony  of  the 
Rue  Galilee  that  March  night.  She  had  molded  his 
ductile  nature  into  the  very  grooves  she  herself  had  fash 
ioned.  She  had  by  a  sublimity  of  artifice  confirmed  Elliot's 
suspicions  of  his  friend,  and  had  added  an  incentive  to  his 
anger  which  would  confirm  him  in  driving  the  reprobate 
from  his  sister's  presence.  She  dared  not  confide  her  un 
scrupulous  maneuvers  to  Jules,  not  that  she  doubted  his 
approval,  but  rather  distrusted  his  skill  in  helping  her  to 
achieve  them.  She  preferred,  too,  in  an  imperial  spirit  of 
self-confidence,  to  do  the  work  alone.  She  held  that  a 
secret  once  divulged  was  no  longer  a  secret  ;  furthermore, 
with  such  an  ally  as  Elliot,  doubly  her  minion,  there  was  no 
need  of  even  remotely  compromising  the  future  husband  of 
Bella. 

When  she  called  at  the  Ardens  the  next  day  and 
found  Trajan  in  the  drawing-room  with  Edith,  she  was 
startled,  but  not  disconcerted.  Elliot,  she  made  up  her 
mind,  was  waiting  to  test  the  double  perfidy  of  his  quondam 


HORROR'S  HEAD.  525 

friend.  When,  however,  she  learned  from  Edith  that  her 
brother  had  gone  to  Versailles  to  visit  Philip  on  urgent  fam 
ily  business  she  was  not  so  well  satisfied.  He  might  be 
gone  a  day  or  two — he  might  be  back  in  the  evening.  It 
depended  on  the  affairs  in  question  and  the  presence  of  a 
certain  officer  of  the  cabinet,  who  might  not  have  returned 
from  Bordeaux  yet.  Trajan  expressed  his  surprise  that 
Theo  ventured  in  the  streets  at  such  a  time. 

"  Oh,  Jules  is  protection  enough  ;  he  is  covered  by  the 
shield  of  Jules  Favre,  and  the  new  government,  even  if  it  be 
permitted  to  establish  itself,  can  find  no  fault  with  his 
patriotism." 

"  I'm  not  sure  of  that.  I  heard  the  mob  at  the  Hotel  de 
Ville  denouncing  death  to  Gambetta,  and  certainly  he  can't 
be  accused  of  lack  of  Republicanism  or  patriotism.  I 
myself  have  been  denounced,  and  if  I  were  found  in  the  city 
it  would  go  hard  with  me." 

Jules  looked  grave  at  this,  but  said  nothing.  Trajan 
taking  his  departure  a  little  later  made  Jules  a  sign  to 
follow  him. 

"  I  only  wanted  to  warn  you  that  there  is  danger  for  all 
of  us — for  me  as  well  as  you.  I  was  at  a  meeting  of  the 
club  this  morning  and  it  is  known  that  the  Central  Com 
mittee  mean  mischief,  so  soon  as  the  city  is  entirely  under 
their  control.  Elliot's  mission  to  Versailles  is  to  get  money 
and  passports  for  the  family,  as  it  is  clearly  unsafe  to  remain. 
They  will  go  to  England  just  as  soon  as  he  gets  back." 

"  But  you  are  a  Republican  and  have  influence  with  the 
Reds — won't  your  word  protect  us  in  case  of  danger  ?" 
asked  Jules  anxiously,  thinking  of  the  separation  from 
Bella. 

"  I  shall  be  lucky  if  I  can  save  my  own  neck.  As  a 
friend  of  Gambetta's  I  should  stand  little  favor  with  the 
chaps  parading  under  the  name  of  Communists — of  which 
they  understand  as  much  as  a  Malay  the  doctrines  of 
Confucius  !  That  miserable  wretch,  Ferre,  has  circulated 


526  TRAJAN. 

the  report  of  my  handiwork  in  the  escape  of  the  empress, 
and  my  presence  with  Napoleon  at  Metz  and  Sedan.  I 
would  be  shot  on  sight." 

"  Then  you  advise  me  to  send  my  family  from  Paris  ?  " 
"  I  certainly  advise  it — for  the  present.  Just  look  at  the 
situation.  There  isn't  a  single  policeman  in  Paris  ;  there 
isn't  a  court  open  ;  there  isn't  a  vestige  of  legal  authority  of 
any  kind.  Suppose  a  ruffian  takes  it  into  his  head  to  enter 
this  house  ?  What's  to  prevent  him  ?  The  servants  ?  Who 
knows  but  they  are  plotting  this  moment  to  carry  off  the 
silver  and  valuables  ?  Should  we  meet  a  band  of  plunder 
ers  at  this  moment,  what  would  resistance  mean  ?  Treason 
to  the  new  order  of  things — which  so  soon  as  the  mask  is 
thrown  off  will  declare  the  right  of  equal  division  in  prop 
erty — pretending  that  Communism  means  that  !  " 
"  My  God,  Gray,  you  terrify  me.  What  shall  I  do  ?  " 
"  Get  what  money  you  can  and  leave  the  city — go  no 
matter  where,  but  get  out  of  this  reign  of  burlesque,  that 
may  turn  to  terror — unless  the  Versailles  folks  show  more 
energy  than  they  have  thus  far  practiced  ;  but  go  back  to 
the  salon  and  don't  breathe  a  word  of  this  to  the  family." 
Jules  returned  to  the  rest,  full  of  apprehension.  He 
had  counted  on  a  coming  crisis,  but  he  had  hoped  that  the 
interest  he  had  made  with  the  revolutionists  in  other  days 
would  save  himself  and  family  from  serious  jeopardy.  Theo 
detected  the  solicitude  in  his  manner  the  instant  he  came 
in,  but  attributed  it  to  another  and  perhaps  to  her  more 
alarming  business.  Had  Trajan  been  informed  of  the  mesh 
woven  about  his  feet  and  had  he  suspected  her  handiwork  ? 
She  couldn't  restrain  the  horrible  impatience  burning  her. 
Refusing  the  pressing  invitation  to  spend  the  day  she  pleaded 
a  violent  headache,  and  much  to  her  brother's  chagrin,  who 
was  loth  to  quit  Bella,  hurried  out.  She  couldn't  wait  to 
get  into  the  cab  to  ask  the  question  : 

"  Trajan  has  been  telling  you  something  serious — I  see  it 
in  your  face.     What  is  it  ?  " 


HORRORS  HEAD.  527 

He  had  not  meant  to  disturb  her  with  his  alarm,  but  he 
knew  her  too  well  to  attempt  to  evade  the  truth  and  told 
her  frankly  the  subject  of  the  interview.  He  was  astonished 
at  her  sigh  of  relief  when  the  menacing  danger  they  were  in 
was  revealed,  and  asked  in  surprise  : 

"  Did  you  apprehend  worse  than  this  ?  " 

"I  didn't  know  what  to  think,"  she  returned  evasively. 
"Just  now  I  am  suspicious  of  Gray  ;  his  intimacy  with  the 
Ardens  keeps  us  at  a  distance.  I  really  believe  that  he  is 
capable  of  going  over  to  Bella.  She  is  far  more  fitted  to  a 
man  of  his  intellect  than  her  little  cousin,  who  is  nothing 
but  pretty.  You  needn't  tell  me  that  Trajan  really  loves 
Edith.  If  he  does  it's  a  mere  caprice.  Men  are  never  constant 
to  women  whom  they  win  without  effort,  and  nobody  could 
fail  to  see  that  Edith  adored  him  long  before  he  gave  her  a 
thought.  She's  a  sly  little  puss,  too.  He  hadn't  been  at 
Crecy  two  days  before  she  had  him  at  her  side  every 
moment,  on  pretexts  that  would  have  put  an  old  stager  like 
you  on  your  guard." 

"  On  my  mettle,  you  mean.  I'm  free  to  say  I  should  not 
make  much  resistance  to  such  eyes  as  hers,  and  then  the 
Arden  fortune- — that  would  be  an  argument  that  a  poor 
devil  like  me  couldn't  resist." 

"  What  shall  we  do— quit  Paris  ?  " 

"  That's  the  only  thing  I  see  to  be  done." 

"  That  means  separation  from  Bella  and  all  the  work  over 
again  !  " 

"  If  it  were  not  for  that  I  should  be  only  too  glad  to  leave 
the  place." 

"But  why  not  go  with  the  Ardens?  " 

"  How  ?  They  won't  invite  us  and  we  can't  thrust 
ourselves  on  them." 

"  Learn  where  they  mean  to  go  and  find  yourself  in 
the  same  haven — nothing  simpler." 

"  And  you — what  will  become  of  you  and  the  father  ? 
Lafayette  can  take  care  of  Clare." 


528  TRAJAN. 

"  I  don't  know  what  I  shall  do  just  yet,  until  I  have  seen 
Elliot.  All  depends  on  him." 

When  they  reached  home  Trajan's  warning  was  empha 
sized  by  Papa  Carnot,  who  had  been  to  the  American 
Embassy.  The  minister  warned  him,  as  well  as  others  of 
his  countrymen,  come  to  him  for  advice,  that  every  thing  was 
in  such  confusion  he  could  promise  no  security.  He  advised 
every  one  to  quit  Paris.  There  was  a  scene  of  rage  and 
lamentation  when  the  minister  concluded.  Not  a  foreign 
family  in  Paris  had  means  to  get  away.  Five  months  of 
siege  with  every  commodity  of  life  at  fabulous  prices  had 
emptied  the  fullest  purses.  There  were  not  a  score  of  peo 
ple  in  the  city  who  had  a  penny's  balance  at  the  banker's. 

Nor  if  they  had  would  it  be  of  any  avail,  as  all  business 
having  been  suspended,  the  banks  were  virtually  closed  when 
the  siege  came  to  an  end.  Nor  had  the  threatening  shape  of 
affairs  from  March  ist  encouraged  alacrity  in  resuming 
operations.  Lafayette  must  be  consulted,  Theo  declared. 

Nothing  could  be  done  until  the  state  of  his  finances  was 
known.  Jules  set  out  at  once  to  see  the  millionaire,  who 
was  occupying  the  palace  of  the  parental  Grovels — they  hav 
ing  fled  to  London  when  the  city  was  about  being  invested — 
leaving  Marion  to  comfort  Aunt  Clare,  as  he  persisted 
in  calling  his  brother's  wife.  Lafayette,  with  true  western 
disdain  for  danger,  scouted  the  proposal  to  fly. 

"  No  ;  if  there  were  fun  in  the  wind  he  meant  to  take  a  full 
hand.  Let  Theo  and  the  old  man  turn  in  here  with  us- 
There's  lots  of  room  and  the  women  folks  will  be  company  for 
each  other.  I'm  not  sure  that  I  could  command  funds  at 
such  short  notice  ;  beside,  there's  a  heap  of  money  due  us  here 
and  I'm  charged  by  the  syndicate  to  see  to  its  collection. 
Lock  up  the  ranch  door  there,"  he  added  jovially,  nodding 
toward  the  Rue  Galilee,  "  and  bring  all  your  traps  over 
here.  We've  got  a  whole  brigade  of  servants,  and  they  will 
be  all  the  better  with  a  house  full  to  keep  their  hands  in." 

"  I'm  afraid  that  these  very  servants  will  prove  the  great- 


HORR  OR' S  HE  A  D.  529 

est  danger,"  said  Jules  gloomily.  "  They  are  spies  and  sneaks 
at  best,  and  if  things  arrive  at  the  pass  every  thing  now 
points  to,  they  will  join  the  pillagers  against  us."  As  Jules 
left  the  room  Lafayette  followed  him.  "  There's  another 
reason  that  prevents  our  going.  Clare  will  soon  be  a  mother. 
She  must  be  kept  quiet  for  a  month.  She's  very  happy  with 
the  children,  and  a  move  would  only  upset  her." 

Thus  it  seemed  that  fate  itself  had  entered  the  lists  against 
Theo  as  well  as  France,  and  that  obstacles  no  foresight 
could  have  provided  against  were  arraying  themselves  irre 
sistibly  in  the  path  of  her  well-conceived  project. 

Trajan's  uneasiness  was  great  the  next  day,  when  he  found 
that  Elliot  had  not  come  back.  Communication  with  Ver 
sailles  threatened  hourly  to  be  cut  off.  The  ministers,  who 
had  lingered  in  the  city  in  the  vain  hope  of  preserving  the 
appearance  of  a  national  regime,  had  been  obliged  to  fly  the 
night  before.  The  last  of  the  Assembly's  troops,  can 
toned  in  the  gardens  of  the  Luxembourg,  had  passed  within 
sight  of  the  Arden  windows  that  morning,  hooted  and  exe 
crated  by  the  mobs,  when  they  found  the  cajoleries  of  the 
female  patriots  thrown  away  upon  them.  Wherever  the 
troops  had  met  the  mob  hitherto,  the  tears  and  embraces  of 
the  women  had  shaken  their  constancy,  and  when  ordered  to 
fire,  they  had  thrown  down  their  arms,  refusing  to  massacre 
women  and  children.  It  was  by  this  artifice  that  the  entire 
garrison  of  the  city  had  been  seduced  and  had  compelled  the 
cabinet  of  Thiers  to  fly.  The  city  was  now  completely  in 
the  hands  of  the  turbulents,  and  the  mask  was  at  once 
thrown  off. 

The  walls  of  every  quarter  flamed  with  proclamations 
defining  the  extraordinary  evolution  from  law  to  lawless 
ness.  Those  who  could  afford  it  at  once  engaged  private 
guards  for  their  homes  and  property.  But  even  this 
was  soon  deprived  them,  by  the  drunken  patrols  of  the 
Communards  marching  through  the  streets,  prying  into  court 
yards  and  forcing  off  all  who  were  able-bodied. 
34 


53°  TRAJAN. 

Trajan  had  secured  a  guard  for  the  Rue  Francois 
Premier  the  night  of  Elliot's  departure,  but  was  not  much 
surprised  when  the  frightened  concierge  informed  him  that 
she  had  seen  the  red-sashed  myrmidons  of  the  Central 
Committee  force  the  protesting  patriots  to  join  them. 

Realizing  the  uselessness  of  entrusting  the  duty  to  a  stranger, 
Trajan  secured  a  mansard  directly  facing  the  Arden  win 
dows  and  took  up  his  post  there  until  Elliot  should  return. 
He  cautioned  the  concierge  to  keep  the  American  flag 
displayed  just  inside  the  door,  and  to  explain  the  fact 
that  the  Ardens  were  Americans  to  any  intruding  patrols 
of  patriots. 

He  watched  the  house  all  day  and  saw  three  bands 
enter  the  portals,  tarry  awhile  and  come  out  laden  with 
bottles  and  food.  Under  cover  of  early  darkness,  he 
hastened  over,  resolved  to  confide  the  danger  to  Bella,  in 
order  that  a  night  incursion  might  not  unduly  alarm  the 
family  or  find  them  all  unprepared.  The  mother  and 
sister  were  disappointed  but  not  alarmed  by  Elliot's  pro 
longed  stay  at  Versailles.  They  had  been  busy  preparing 
for  the  contemplated  flight.  All  their  valuables  were 
securely  packed,  and  there  need  not  be  an  hour's  delay 
after  Elliot  came.  Mrs.  Briscoe,  though  very  weak,  was 
equal  to  the  journey  by  slow  stages.  Seizing  a  moment 
when  Edith  and  her  mother  were  busied  elsewhere,  Trajan 
confided  the  dangers  of  the  family  to  Bella,  informed  her 
of  the  precautions  he  had  taken,  and  counseled  her  to 
gradually  accustom  the  others  to  the  situation,  without  alarm 
ing  them. 

He  would  meanwhile  endeavor  to  get  some  protection 
from  the  American  minister.  As  he  could  not  ven 
ture  in  the  street  during  the  day,  lest  he  should  be 
snapped  up  by  the  patrols  and  marched  off  to  fight,  he 
could  come  to  them  only  after  dark.  By  a  signal  in  the 
window,  however,  she  could  at  any  time  call  him.  Ten 
days  wore  on  in  this  suspense,  which  grew  into  heart-break- 


HORR  OR  S  HE  A  D.  531 

ing  anguish,  as  the  brother  gave  no  sign.  It  was  a  constant 
terror  by  day  and  anguish  by  night.  Trajan  himself  had 
dreadful  forebodings  of  Elliot's  fate.  He  gave  the  Ameri 
can  minister  no  peace,  imploring  him  to  send  an  emissary  to 
Versailles  to  make  inquiry  for  the  missing  Elliot.  But  the 
era  of  reprisals  had  set  in,  and  the  Commune  obstinately 
refused  to  permit  any  communication  with  the  "  Prussians 
of  Versailles,"  as  the  Thiers  government  was  called. 

Not  daring  to  leave  the  family  without  a  protector,  Trajan 
was  tied  to  his  post.  A  score  of  times  he  had  narrowly 
missed  discovery.  Three  nights  he  had  been  forced  to 
lurk  on  the  roofs  of  the  many-gabled  mansards.  When  he 
visited  the  family  it  was  in  disguise,  for  even  the  domes 
tics  could  not  be  trusted.  He  had  urged  the  minister  to 
receive  the  ladies  in  the  embassy,  but  that  refuge  was 
crowded  with  terrified  women,  to  whose  misfortune  poverty 
was  added.  Bella  had  held  up  the  hopes  of  the  mother  and 
sister  with  sustained  discretion,  though  "her  own  heart  was 
cruelly  torn  by  the  dreadful  uncertainty.  The  Carnots  had 
not  been  seen  since  Trajan's  warning.  Lafayette  thought 
lessly  exposing  himself  in  the  street  and  trusting  to  his 
American  citizenship,  had  been  arrested  and  put  into  one 
of  the  national  guard  companies.  Jules  had  managed  to  fly 
to  Versailles,  and  Papa  Carnot's  age  was  a  present  exemp 
tion  from  molestation,  though  he  was  informed  that  when 
the  patrie  was  in  danger,  age  would  not  excuse  him  from 
taking  his  place  at  the  barricades. 

Misfortune  had  fallen  heavily  upon  the  house  in  the  Rue 
Galilee.  Papa  Carnot  had  left  the  household  treasures 
under  the  concierge  s  guard.  One  morning  her  little  girl 
came  over  and  reported  the  Communards  pillaging  the 
rooms.  He  hastened  over  and  sure  enough  Theo's  exqui 
site  collections  were  the  prey  of  the  vandals.  In  the  salon 
he  found  a  squad  of  Amazons  in  short  petticoats,  scarlet 
jackets  and  jaunty  red  liberty  caps,  heaping  the  spoil  of 
the  apartments  upon  sheets  stretched  upon  the  floor.  They 


S32  TRAJAN. 

were  armed  with  pistols  and  short  cutlasses,  and  saluted 
him  with  mock  gravity  as  he  tottered  into  his  deserted 
home. 

"  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  robbery  ?  "  he  asked,  trem 
bling  with  anger.  "  I  am  a  foreigner." 

"  Ho-ho  !  It  is  the  Pere  Carnot,"  said  one  of  the  Amazons 
with  decisive  emphasis,  appearing  in  the  door  of  l^heo's 
chamber,  her  hands  filled  with  letters,  which  she  had  tied 
in  a  package.  "  This  is  the  father  of  the  female  aristo 
crat,  who  ruins  honest  work-folk  by  robbing  them  of  their 
characters.  Ah,  Papa  Carnot,  it  is  the  turn  of  the  serfs  now. 
We  shall  have  a  fine  dance  for  your  grande  young  demoi 
selle  one  of  these  days." 

Papa  Carnot  sank  helplessly  into  a  seat.  The  voice  was 
the  voice  of  Celeste,  the  dismissed  and  disgraced  bonne. 
The  rest  of  the  band,  paying  no  heed  to  the  old  man,  tum 
bled  cloaks,  ornaments,  vases,  rugs,  every  thing  portable,  into 
the  sheets  and  table-cloths  spread  on  the  floor,  and  tying 
them  into  stout  bundles,  dragged  them  to  the  door,  each 
marking  her  own  spoil  with  initials  in  red.  Celeste,  who 
had  disappeared  after  her  explanation,  soon  returned  laden 
with  silver  and  dresses.  The  old  gentleman  rose  and  en 
tered  the  dining-room.  It  was  completely  denuded  ;  the 
chambers  were  stripped  of  every  thing,  the  curtains,  rugs 
and  draperies,  down  to  the  bolsters.  He  turned,  speechless 
with  impotent  fury,  and  made  for  the  door. 

"  Ah  no,  cher  pere  Carnot.  You  would  not  be  so  impolite 
as  to  desert  these  charming  ladies  when  they  have  taken  so 
much  pains  to  call  on  you.  You  have  offered  us  no  refresh 
ments.  Citoyenne  Leflo,  some  burgundy — no — some  cham 
pagne  ;  the  People,  in  possession  of  their  property,  do  not 
refuse  to  divide  like  the  selfish  bourgeoisie,"  and  Celeste, 
extracting  glasses  from  one  of  the  bursting  sacks  of  loot, 
gayly  set  them  on  the  dainty  gueridon,  which  was  spared 
only  because  inconvenient  to  bestow  in  the  extemporized 
packing  cases. 


HORRORS  HEAD.  $33 

" Le  void"  laughed  a  comrade,  producing  the  champagne. 
— When  the  glasses  were  filled  Celeste,  casually  girding  on 
her  revolver  belt,  pointed  to  one  of  the  glasses,  saying  with 
droll  gravity  :  "  Help  yourself,  Pere  Carnot,  and  serve  the 
ladies  ;  the  tyranny  of  servitude  being  abolished,  it  is  by 
politeness  only  that  equals  serve  equals." 

A  roar  of  laughter  followed  this  humorous  assertion  of 
the  workings  of  equal  rights.  Papa  Carnot  looked  in  terror 
from  one  to  i^e  other  of  the  rollicking  furies.  He  saw  that 
they  were  not  to  be  trifled  with,  and  with  trembling  hands 
proffered  each  in  turn  the  foaming  cups  of  crystal. 

"  Charming  !  You  shall  be  a  city  father.  You  take  nat 
urally  to  the  doctrines  of  the  People,"  and  Celeste,  raising 
the  glass  gave  the  toast,  "  A  votre  sante",  and  long  life  to  the 
Commune."  All  the  glasses  were  raised  and  clinked  against 
the  cup  in  the  shaking  hands  of  the  reluctant  convive. 

"  Now,  Papa  Carnot,  remain  here  and  see  that  no  evil- 
disposed  aristocrat  comes  to  disturb  your  treasures.  We 
will  relieve  you  of  this  useless  baggage,  which  would  only 
be  a  temptation  to  the  patriots.  Say  to  mademoiselle,  your 
aristocrat  daughter,  that  she  will  receive  a  visit  from  me 
before  long.  She  must  be  tired  of  princes  and  millionaires 
by  this  time,  and  will  be  glad  to  see  a  representative  of  the 
People." 

Celeste  laughed  grimly,  as  with  her  howling  cortege  she 
passed  out,  dragging  her  spoil,  as  did  the  others.  The  poor 
gentleman  sat  helplessly  where  they  had  left  him.  He  heard 
them  close  the  hall  door  and  turn  the  key.  '  He  ran  to  the 
window  and  watched  for  their  appearance  on  the  street  below. 
There  was  a  tumbril  waiting.  Presently  they  appeared,  the 
sacks  were  laden  on  this,  and  spying  him  leaning  over  the 
balcony  rail,  the  Amazons  kissed  their  hands  gayly  and  drove 
off.  It  was  an  hour  or  more  before  the  concierge  rescued 
the  prisoner.  She  had  been  charged  on  penalty  of  impris 
onment  to  detain  him  an  hour,  but  it  was  plain  from  the 
greedy  look  in  her  eyes,  that  if  she  had  not  been  in  league 


534  TRAJAN. 

with  the  robbers,  her  sympathies  were  not  wholly  against 
them.  Theo's  rage  and  terror  when  she  heard  of  the  inva 
sion  and  sack  of  the  house  threw  her  into  a  fever.  She  bore 
up  with  resignation  until  she  heard  of  Celeste's  abstraction 
of  the  letters.  When  that  was  told  her,  she  turned  ghastly 
and  sank,  as  if  shot,  upon  the  sofa,  moaning  and  wringing 
her  hands. 

"  Can  nothing  be  done  to  arrest  that  fiend  ?  Ah  !  we 
shall  be  ruined — we  shall  be  ruined  !  "  she^cried.  "  Why 
did  Jules  go  and  leave  us  to  these  furies?"  It  was  a  very 
different  Theo  from  the  masterful  spirit  we  have  seen  here 
tofore  in  these  pages.  But  she  was  not  to  be  put  down  with 
out  an  effort.  A  half-hour  later  she  handed  her  father  three 
notes,  addressed  to  Elliot,  Lafayette,  and  her  former  copar 
cener  in  the  Rue  Scribe. 

"  Let  no  human  being  get  hold  of  these.  Deliver  them 
yourself  into  the  hands  of  each  person  named,  and  don't 
give  up  if  you  have  to  wait  all  night." 

In  the  letter  to  her  brother-in-law,  Theo  warned  him 
that  unless  the  letters  were  gotten  from  Celeste,  the  heads 
of  the  family  would  be  in  danger  in  case  the  revengeful 
maid  laid  them  before  the  Revolutionists.  They  contained, 
among  others,  Pietri's  correspondence  with  Jules  while  he 
was  an  aid  to  Grammont.  It  was  long  after  midnight 
when  Lafayette  himself  came  in  agitated  and  fatigued.  He 
had,  so  soon  as  receiving  the  note,  set  out  with  Gibson,  an 
Englishman,  like  himself  impressed  into  the  commune.  He 
had  ascended 'to  Celeste's  room  and  demanded  the  letters, 
while  Gibson  kept  watch  at  the  door  below.  At  first  the 
girl  denied  the  theft,  but  when  Lafayette  resolutely  pushed 
her  aside,  she  fled  to  the  bedroom  and  taking  them  from 
a  place  of  concealment,  handed  them  to  her  lover,  a  strap 
ping  soldier.  He  made  for  the  escalier  du  service,  and  Lafay 
ette,  running  to  the  window,  warned  Gibson  to  seize  the 
man  and  get  the  package.  Celeste  and  her  mother  set  upon 
Lafayette  and  detained  him  for  some  time.  When  he  reached 


HORROR'S  HEAD.  535 

the  street  the  soldier  was  lying  on  the  pavement  moaning, 
and  Gibson  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  Lafayette  had  gone 
back  to  the  barrack,  but  during  his  absence  his  troop  had 
been  sent  to  the  Mazas  prison,  and  to  save  himself  from 
suspicion,  he  had  joined  another  command  and  gained  a 
five-hour  furlough  to  relieve  Clare's  anxiety.  Theo  breathed 
a  sigh  of  relief.  At  all  events,  the  letters  were  no  longer  in 
the  hands  of  her  energetic  enemy.  Gibson  she  knew  as  an 
English  resident  and  a  man  of  honor.  He  would  take  the 
first  opportunity  to  send  them  to  Lafayette. 

"  Now,"  said  Lafayette,  "the  first  thing  you  must  count 
on  is  a  visit  from  Celeste  at  the  head  of  her  troop.  If  she 
finds  you  here,  your  life  won't  be  worth  a  prayer." 

"  I  have  thought  of  that,"  said  Theo  in  some  agitation. 
"  But  she  can  be  evaded  until  things  are  settled.  The  Belle- 
chasses  have  asked  me  to  stay  with  them  as  they  are  quite 
alone.  I  will  play  the  part  of  governess.  None  of  their  old 
servants  are  with  them  and  I  shall  not  be  recognized. 
Beside,  their  house  is  in  a  deep  garden  and  we  can  have 
warning  before  the  bandits  reach  the  house.  Under  the 
old  part  of  the  chateau  there  are  subterraneous  retreats, 
used  by  the  conspirators  against  Richelieu,  in  which  one  can 
be  secure  for  months.  Celeste  will  not  molest  Clare,  she 
adores  her.  I'll  go  at  once  and  you  must  take  me,  as  with 
your  uniform  no  one  will  suspect  us." 

So  Theo  played  the  part  of  governess  in  the  halls  of  the 
Bellechasse,  and  a  very  merry  time  she  made  of  the  siege, 
enlivening  the  sad  hearts  of  the  household  waiting  in  terror 
to  hear  from  the  young  count  at  Versailles. 


TRAJAtf. 
CHAPTER   XXXI V. 

TRAJAN  PLAYS  A  NEW  ROLE. 

QUSPENSE  had  turned  the  circle  in  the  Rue  Fran£ois  1. 
O  into  a  house  of  mourning.  Mrs.  Arden  had  worn  herself 
out  in  journeys  and  supplications  to  the  minister.  She  had 
even  gone  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville  against  Trajan's  imploring 
remonstrances.  No  trace  of  Elliot  could  be  obtained.  The 
chief  of  the  committee  had  answered  her  gruffly  that  a  man 
who  had  left  the  city  in  the  crisis  was  unworthy  seeking,  and 
advised  her  to  regard  his  loss  with  the  patriotic  philosophy 
of  Brutus — sacrificing  his  unworthy  son  on  the  altar  of  the 
Roman  Commune.  If  he  did  turn  up  the  patrie  would  deal 
with  him.  The  servants  had  been  offered  sums  that  would 
have  given  them  luxury  for  life,  to  keep  them  faithful.  But 
terror  of  the  swarming  spies  of  the  central  oligarchy,  if 
not  secret  sympathy,  as  well  as  the  open  profession,  which 
every  one — women  as  well  as  men — were  forced  to  make,  kept 
them  from  the  dangerous  mission  of  seeking  their  master. 

Trajan  heard  with  terror  that  the  chief  had  taken  down 
Elliot's  name,  and  Philip's — as  Mrs.  Arden  supposed  to  aid 
in  their  return,  but  as  he  knew  very  well,  to  enable  the 
commune  to  lay  hands  on  them,  should  they  appear  in  Paris. 

A  straggler  found  between  the  lines  during  the  week  had 
been  publicly  shot,  and  the  ferocious  journals  of  the  Anar 
chists  called  for  instant  execution  upon  any  one  giving  the 
least  symptoms  of  being  a  "  suspect."  The  rich  who  refused 
to  give — to  hand  over  their  jewelry  and  valuables  realizable 
in  cash,  should  be  considered  "  suspect."  The  citizens  who 
had  feasted  upon  Paris  in  the  days  of  its  fleshly  lust,  should 
be  considered  "  suspect,"  if  they  tried  to  evade  the  duty  to 
humanity  embodied  in  the  cause  of  the  commune.  Mrs. 
Arden  had  given  lavishly.  She  had  furnished  bales  of  lint 
for  the  wounded.  She  had  supplied  rations  for  the  troops  of 


TRAJAN  PLA  YS  A  NEW  ROLE,  537 

the  quarter,  and  thanks  to  her  profusion  the  house  had 
escaped  the  sinister  stigma  of  "  suspect."  The  night  of 
Theo's  flight  from  Celeste,  as  Bella  sat  in  the  library  trying 
to  read,  she  heard  a  loud  wrangling  at  the  street  door. 
Going  cautiously  to  the  vestibule  landing  she  heard  the 
concierge,  speaking  sharply  : 

"  But  I  tell  you,  citoyenne,  Monsieur  Arden  has  not  been  in 
Paris  for  a  fortnight.  He  left  before  the  People  became 
their  own  masters.  I  assure  you  I  speak  the  truth.  There  is 
sickness  in  the  house — dangerous  fever,"  she  added,  with  a 
Frenchwoman's  ready  wit,  "  which  prevents  us  from  going 
into  the  apartments.  The  physician  forbids  every  one 
entering." 

"  Are  the  young  demoiselles  still  here  ? " 
"  They  are,  but  both  are  down  with  the  malady,  and  as 
red  as  boiled  lobsters  with  the  disgusting  fever  blotches.     I 
assure  you,  citoyenne,  the  doctor  himself  fears  to  go  near 
them." 

"  Trh  bien.     It  is  as  a  friend  of  the  family  I  am  come. 
I    will   write   mademoiselle,   the  cousin  of   Citoyen    Arden 
presently.     Tell    her  I    have   been  here  and  that  she   will 
hear  from  me  before  long.     I  am  the  Citoyenne  Voyon  of 
the  Garde  Amazone,  Lorette." 
"Good  night,  citoyenne." 
"  Au  revoir,  citoyenne." 

Bella  heard  the  heavy  door  swing  back,  then  closed,  the 
chains  put  up  and  the  bolts  pushed  into  their  sockets.  Then 
the  concierge  muttering  to  her  daughter  : 

"  I  shan't  tell  the  family  a  word  of  this,  but  if  I  am  not 
about  and  this  brazen  hussy  should  get  in,  run  and  warn  the 
demoiselles  to  paint  their  faces  and  hands  with  blotches — 
that  will  keep  the  trollope  at  a  respectful  distance,  for  she 
has  a  sort  of  beauty,  and  no  woman  will  risk  that  even  for 
robbery  or  revenge.  What  on  earth  can  she  want  of  the 
young  monsieur  ?  He  is  not  one  to  have  a  liaison  with  such 
as  that." 


538  TRAJAN, 

Bella  had  heard  enough,  and  softly  closing  the  door,  sat 
down  to  reflect  on  what  she  should  do.  She  determined  that 
it  would  be  safer  to  put  Trajan  on  his  guard  in  the  new 
difficulty.  He  had  almost  ceased  coining  to  the  house  as  it 
was  dangerous  to  attract  attention,  and  both  distrusted  the 
fidelity  of  the  servants.  But  the  conduct  of  the  concierge 
left  no  doubt  of  her  trustworthiness.  A  signal  had  been 
arranged  to  meet  the  new  exigencies,  and  she  straightway  sat 
down  and  wrote  word  for  word  what  she  had  heard.  Going 
to  the  last  window  of  the  dining-room  she  passed  a  lamp 
three  times  before  the  drawn  curtains,  then  turning  the 
flame  so  that  the  room  was  left  almost  in  darkness,  she  drew 
back  the  shade  and  looked  up  at  the  mansard  opposite. 

A  light  burning  inside  was  suddenly  extinguished  and  she 
knew  her  signal  had  been  seen.  Putting  the  note  in  a  small 
reticule  to  which  a  string  was  attached,  she  waited  perhaps 
twenty  minutes,  then  softly  opened  the  glass,  which  as  in  all 
French  houses  moved  on  hinges,  and  held  the  reticule  in  her 
hand.  The  figure  of  a  man  came  slowly  along  close  to  the 
walls  of  the  house.  As  it  arrived  within  sight  of  the  window, 
the  hat  was  raised  carelessly  and  the  hair  stroked,  as  if  in 
reflection  or  fatigue.  By  this  sign  she  knew  it  was  Trajan 
and  let  the  note  down.  In  an  instant  a  jerk  warned  her  that 
he  had  the  note.  Immensely  relieved,  she  returned  to  her 
book,  vainly  trying  to  fix  her  mind  on  the  girlish  miseries  of 
Maggie  Tulliver.  Edith  had  gone  to  sit  with  her  mother 
and  Mrs.  Briscoe,  while  Kate,  exhausted  by  the  strain  of  the 
last  miserable  days,  was  fairly  ill  and  in  bed. 

An  hour  had  passed,  it  was  not  yet  ten  o'clock,  when  she 
heard  the  concierge 's  bell  jingle  very  lightly.  She  got  up  in 
great  dread  and  opened  the  vestibule  door  and  passed  quite  to 
the  corridor  in  her  excitement.  The  voice  of  the  concierge 
was  heard  asking  through  the  wicket  "Who's  there?"  The 
response  could  not  be  heard,  but  after  an  instant  the  little 
panel  was  shot  back  and  the  concierge  came  up  the  stairs. 
Bella  had  hardly  time  to  enter  and  close  the  door  when  a 


TRAJAN  PLA  YS  A  NEW  ROLE.  539 

light  tap  came.  When  she  opened  the  door  the  concierge 
held  a  note  toward  her,  saying  with  a  smile,  "  Good  news  I 
hope,  mademoiselle,  it  is  from  Monsieur  Trajan.  Bon  svir." 

"  Bon  soir, "  she  answered  smiling  kindly  and  confidingly 
on  the  honest  woman,  whose  loyalty  had  been  so  well  proven. 
"  Have  you  every  thing  you  need — wouldn't  Amalie  like 
some  bon-bons  ?  I  have  some  I  forgot  to  give  her." 

"  Oh,  mademoiselle,  how  kind  you  always  are  to  us.  May 
the  bon  Dieu  be  your  guardian,"  she  exclaimed  fervently,  as 
Bella  returned  with  a  box  of  bon-bons  into  which  she  had 
slipped  two  gold  pieces.  Trajan's  note  simply  said  : 

"  Have  no  uneasiness  about  the  woman.  She  knows  me  ; 
she  saw  me  at  the  Carnots — but  beyond  that,  there  is,  I 
think,  no  danger,  unless  she  should  see  Edith  or  the  family. 
She  can  do  no  mischief.  She  can  not  know  any  thing  that  will 
compromise  us  now.  Be  doubly  careful,  however,  to  keep 
Edith  in  the  dark.  I  know  it  is  cruel  duplicity  to  put  on  you. 
It  is,  however,  kindness  to  her.  I  will  prove  to  you  in  the 
future  that  you  have  not  carried  this  burden  so  heroically, 
in  vain.  I  have  a  plan  that  will  soon  extricate  you  from  this 
ordeal.  Be  careful  in  using  the  signal.  I  think  we  are 
suspected  in  a  certain  quarter. 

"TRAJAN." 

"  P.  S. — I  am  going  to  come  in  about  noon,  when  we  can 
arrange  to  extricate  ourselves  from  this  intolerable  suspense." 

Edith  entered  as  she  finished  the  note,  which  Bella  thrust 
hastily  into  her  pocket. 

'*  Mamma  is  asleep  at  last,"  she  said  wearily.  "Oh,  Bella, 
what  are  we  going  to  do  ?  Some  one  should  go  to  Versailles 
and  look  for  Elliot.  I'm  sure  he's  ill.  He  certainly  would 
have  found  some  way  to  send  us  word,  if  he  were  well — what 
can  that  be  ?  "  The  concierge  s  bell  was  ringing  a  peal  loud 
enough  to  wake  the  sleepers  in  the  mansard.  Bella  rose  in 
agitation.  A  second  peal  louder  and  more  peremptory  than 
before  rang  through  the  lower  corridor. 

"  Go  and  tranquillize  mother  and  aunty,"  exclaimed  Bella 


54°  TRAJAN. 

calmly.  "  I  will  go  to  the  door  and  see  what  the  ringing 
means."  Reaching  the  landing  she  could  hear  the  concierge 
opening  her  own  door.  Then  the  wicket  slipped  back  cau 
tiously.  A  sharp  "  Who's  there  and  what's  wanted  ?  "  a  little 
cry,  half  screech  and  half  gulp  and  the  rattling  of  chains  with 
a  simultaneous  rush  of  bolts,  creaking  of  hinges,  then  a  fig 
ure  rushing  up  the  stairs  three  at  a  bound,  then  her  con 
sciousness  gone,  a  pair  of  stout  arms  around  her,  a  mus- 
tached  mouth  devouring  her  lips,  and  the  vague  vision  of  a 
second,  but  more  deliberate  figure  coming  up  the  stairs. 

Oh  !  Elliot— Elliot  !— and  Philip  !— ah— ah— ah— kiss- 
kiss — kiss. 

There  is  no  telling  how  long  this  selfish  silliness  would 
have  continued,  had  a  flying  robe  not  appeared  in  the  hall 
within,  then  a  little  gurgling  shriek,  and  then  a  collapse  into 
kisses,  rapture  and  the  joy  that  words  have  no  business  to  try 
to  tell.  Then  a  joyous  cavalcade  to  mamma's  bedside,  where 
more  and  devouter  raptures  forbid  intrusion,  and  then  a 
clearing  out  to  give  the  two  glad  mammas  and  Kate  time  to 
appear  before  the  two  restored  wanderers.  The  prodigals  were 
in  the  guise  of  workmen.  Their  story  was  not  remarkable. 

First,  the  Versailles  authorities  would  give  Elliot  no  safe 
conduct.  They  had  taken  letters  which  he  had  sent  to  an 
nounce  his  detention,  but  he  had,  of  course,  received  no 
response,  since  they  had  never  been  received.  He  had  heard 
through  an  attaMvi  the  legation  once,  about  a  week  before, 
that  ^all  were  well  and  anxious  about  him,  which  was  the 
first  hint  that  his  messages  had  not  been  delivered.  Then 
Philip  had  tried  to  get  a  detail  to  bring  him  to  Paris  and  had 
only  succeeded  that  very  morning.  They  had  sneaked  through 
to  the  Mount  Valerian  outposts  and  waited  their  chance  to 
mix  with  the  mob  of  the  Commune,  parading  the  fields  near 
Meudon.  They  had  been  set  to  work  on  Fort  Issy,  and  only 
escaped  in  the  darkness.  Since  then  they  had  been  walking 
incessantly,  not  knowing  the  road,  and  finally  had  caught  a 
"  bus  "  at  theChaillot  gate,  which  brought  them  almost  to  the 


TRAJAN  PL  A  YS  A   NEW  ROLE.  541 

door.  Neither  of  them  would  have  been  recognized,  save  by 
the  eyes  of  love.  But  they  were  very  happy,  as  you  may 
imagine,  so  happy  that  the  hours  of  the  night  passed  and  day 
was  breaking  when  they  separated  to  get  some  rest. 

There  was  a  cloud  on  their  happiness  ;  Elliot  had  gone 
to  Versailles  to  negotiate  for  money,  but  had  failed.  He 
couldn't  understand  why  ;  but  Kate  who  heard  him  turned 
quite  ashen  and  collapsed  in  her  seat. 

It  was  not  until  she  had  reached  her  own  chamber,  that 
Bella  thought  of  Trajan.  She  looked  out  of  the  window. 
It  was  too  light  to  make  use  of  the  signal,  even  had  she  been 
sure  that  the  faithful  watcher  was  at  his  post.  She  was  per 
plexed  and  discomfited.  She  knew  Trajan  didn't  want  to 
meet  Elliot — and  yet  how  to  prevent  it  ?  A  thought  struck 
her.  Going  to  Elliot's  door,  she  knocked  lightly.  He 
opened  it  himself,  but  as  she  entered  Edith  was  there  and 
she  didn't  want  to  speak  before  her.  She  must,  however, 
say  something,  and  broke  out  rather  inconsequently  : 

"  You  never  said  a  word  about  our  prospects.  Are  we  to 
get  away  ?  I'm  afraid  mamma  can't  stand  the  confinement,  she 
needs  open  air  drives."  Elliot  had  led  her  to  the  sofa  as  she 
spoke,  where  Edith  was  sitting.  He  shook  his  head.  "  I'm 
afraid  we're  caught  in  a  trap  here.  There  is  no  human  pos 
sibility  of  getting  out  of  the  city.  Even  the  ambassadors 
have  no  consideration  from  these  wretches  of  the  Commune. 
Only  last  week  they  shot  an  attache of  the  Belgian  Embassy, 
suspected  of  carrying  intelligence  to  the  Versailles  fol^s." 

"  Well — it  was  selfish  in  me  to  come  to  disturb  you,"  she 
s.iid,  concealing  her  face  guiltily  with  her  handkerchief  ; 
"  we'll  talk  it  all  over  to-morrow.  I  want  to  see  you  the  very 
first  thing.  Come,  selfish  sister,  let  the  fugitive  get  some 
rest." 

But  the  young  man  seemed  in  no  hurry  to  lie  down. 
After  luxuriating  interminably  in  the,  for  some  time,  unaccus 
tomed  joy  of  the  bath,  he  put  on  his  slippers  and  wrapper. 
As  he  passed  the  sofa  where  Bella  and  Edith  had  sat,  his  eye 


542  TRAJAN. 

fell  upon  an  open  sheet.  He  picked  it  up  carelessly,  his  eye 
catching  the  line  of  the  note  Trajan  had  written  Bella  : 
"  Have  no  uneasiness  about  the  woman."  He  started  and 
changed  color, — throwing  the  paper  on  the  floor  far  from  him. 
All  his  suspicions,  so  subtly  excited  by  Theo,  came  back  in 
a  black  legion,  rousing  horror  and  hatred  of  the  wretched 
man  who  was  playing  with  his  sister's  heart.  "  Have  no 
uneasiness  about  the  woman  ?  "  What  woman  ?  Had  he 
learned  that  Madelaine  Tarbes  had  exposed  his  odious  con 
duct  ?  He  got  up  and  looked  at  the  paper  lying  at  his  feet. 

Why  should  he  hesitate  to  read  it  ?  It  was  the  evidence 
of  a  vile  treason,  which  was  to  wreck  his  sister's  life,  to 
say  nothing  of  befouling  the  woman  he  himself  loved.  He 
picked  it  up,  holding  it  as  one  holds  a  thing  tainted  and  in 
fected.  The  name  "  Trajan  "  at  the  bottom  infuriated  him. 
It  bore  no  date.  Was  it  fresh  or  was  it  a  relic  of  the  early 
part  of  the  intrigue.  He  would  read  it.  The  first  obligation 
of  a  brother  was  the  protection  of  his  family  honor.  He  read 
it.  Every  line  glimmered  out  like  the  dancing  demons  in  the 
pool,  reflected  from  the  loathsome  serpent's  scales.  That 
Bella  could  be  such  a  wanton,  was  the  thought  uppermost  in 
his  mind.  Edith  had  but  just  told  him  that  Trajan  had 
ceased  visiting  the  house  lest  it  might  bring  suspicion  and 
danger  upon  the  family.  This,  as  the  note  showed,  was  a 
pretext  to  get  rid  of  her.  He  had  grown  weary  of  simulating 
a  love  he  no  longer  felt. 

"  He  is  coming  in  at  noon,  the  scoundrel,  but  he  comes 
into  a  house  no  longer  at  the  mercy  of  the  adventurer,"  and 
Elliot  ground  his  teeth  in  anticipation  of  the  exquisite 
revenge  he  was  about  to  take.  Was  ever  such  despicable 
treason  heard  of  !  Love  might  blind  a  man  to  desperate  expe 
dients,  but  to  invade  the  house  of  calamity,  to  seek  the 
moment  when  terror  and  death  hung  over  it — for  hadn't 
Edith  and  his  mother  said,  they  feared  he  was  dead  ?  To 
take  advantage  of  such  a  time  !  Ah,  it  was  base  beyond  the 
power  of  words  to  speak  or  vengeance  to  repay  !  Should 


TRAJAN  PLA  YS  A  NEW  ROLE.  543 

he  summon  the  household,  servants  and  all,  to  make  his 
ignominious  expulsion  more  emphatic  ?  Expulsion  !  He 
would  have  the  scullion  baste  him  out  with  dish  clouts,  and 
the  porter  to  hale  him  into  the  street  with  the  placard, 
"ingrate  and  sn^ak,"  affixed  on  his  breast  as  nearest  the 
basest  part  of  him — the  heart. 

And  the  longer  he  kept  up  these  genial  reflections,  the 
more  vigorous  became  his  muttered  expressions  of  the  scorn 
and  fury  he  was  going  to  heap  upon  the  unconscious  victim, 
who,  at  that  very  moment,  was  holding  haggard  vigil  across 
the  street,  his  heart  torn  with  anguish  as  the  perils  that 
encompassed  his  angel  and  her  kin  weighed  heavily  and 
more  heavily  on  him,  while  he  realized  his  powerlessness  to 
rescue  all  of  them.  I  don't  know  whether  Theo  would 
have  considered  the  situation  a  compliment  or  not  could  she 
have  looked  into  Elliot's  heart,  festering  with  wounded  self- 
love,  hatred  and  despair — for  after  all  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  Elliot's  estimate  of  Trajan's  treason  had  varied, 
as  the  influence  of  the  young  man  on  Bella's  affections 
appeared  certain  or  problematical.  I  think  we  rather  enjoy 
the  sins  of  our  neighbors  when  they  don't  touch  our  pockets 
and  our  pride  !  At  least,  I  know  no  temple  where  the  ewes 
of  righteousness  and  the  rams  of  iniquity  are  divided  by 
perceptible  barriers.  There  was  no  sleep  for  the  avenger 
that  morning.  He  walked  the  floor  in  a  fury,  which,  by  eight 
o'clock  had  so  exhausted  him,  that  throwing  himself  on  the 
lounge,  he  dozed  feverishly  until  eleven.  He  was  nearly 
dressed  when  Edith's  tap  at  the  door  warned  him  to  com 
pose  his  countenance.  She  must  know  nothing  of  the  com 
ing  scene. 

"  Mamma  is  as  cheery  as  a  maid  in  vacation,  and  demands 
your  immediate  presence  in  the  breakfast-room — why,  Elliot, 
you  haven't  been  in  bed  ! "  she  exclaimed,  as  she  caught 
sight  of  the  undisturbed  counterpane  through  the  open 
door. 

"  No,  I  napped  on  the  lounge.    I  was  too  excited  to  go  to 


544  TRAJAN. 

bed.  Come,  I'm  ready."  He  hurried  her  out  to  avoid  say 
ing  anything  that  might  betray  him,  or  hear  any  thing  which 
might  further  excite  his  rage,  or  possibly  for  fear  the  cruel 
blow  coming  to  her  might  shake  his  resolution.  He  left 
her  at  the  breakfast-room  door,  and  going  into  the  hall, 
where  the  astonished  Pierre  nearly  embraced  him  in  his 
ecstasy,  Elliot  said,  huskily  : 

"  Mr.  Gray,  if  he  comes,  is  to  be  shown  into  the  library, 
instead  of  the  breakfast-room." 

The  breakfast  was  a  tumult  of  jubilant  reunion.  Bella 
was  scintillant  with  old  time  pedantries.  Mrs.  Briscoe, 
who  appeared  for  the  first  time  in  months  in  her  accustomed 
place,  as  Kate  said,  to  "  honor  the  fatted  calves,"  was  forced 
to  go  back  to  the  sofa  to  explode  more  at  her  ease  in 
laughter.  The  meal  was  well  over  when  a  ring  at  the  door 
admonished  Elliot  that  the  great  moment  had  come.  He 
rose  a  little  nervously  as  the  solemnity  of  his  office  of 
avenger  of  outraged  family  honor,  impressed  itself  on  him, 
and  went  into  the  hall-way. 

"  Mr.  Gray  is  in  the  library,  monsieur,"  Pierre  said,  beam 
ing  with  joy,  as  Elliot  held  him  outside  the  door. 

"  Phil,"  called  Elliot,  "won't  you  come  with  me,  I  want 
you  a  moment." 

Every  body  looked  in  surprise.  Elliot  was  deadly  pale 
and  his  voice  was  hoarse.  The  hand  that  held  the  portiere 
trembled.  Trajan  stood  looking  out  of  the  window  and  did 
not  hear  the  steps  of  the  two  as  they  entered  the  room 
behind  him.  Laying  his  hand  on  Philip's  arm  to  check  his 
sudden  movement  toward  Trajan,  Elliot  spoke  in  a  voice  of 
suppressed  excitement. 

"Mr.  Trajan  Gray,  when  I  tell  you  that  I  know  your 
entire  history  as  well  as  your  recent  treachery,  it  will  not  be 
necessary  for  me  to  add  that  this  house  is  no  place  for 
you." 

He  stopped,  not  that  he  had  said  half  that  he  intended, 
but  because  his  excitement  made  him  powerless  to  articulate 


TRAJAN  PL  A  YS  A  NEW  ROLE.  545 

more.  If  Philip  had  not  held  him,  he  might  even  have  fallen. 
Trajan  had  turned  eagerly  at  the  first  sound  of  Elliot's 
voice.  He  had  learned  from  the  concierge  the  good  news 
of  the  arrival,  and  when  Pierre  had  sent  him  to  the  library 
he  felt  that  Elliot  had  learned  the  wrong  he  had  done  him 
and  was  going  to  fall  on  his  neck  in  repentance.  He  fairly 
staggered  as  the  graceless,  wrong-headed  boy  spat  out  these 
brutal  words.  For  a  moment-  he  doubted  his  ears. 

He  went  close  to  his  accuser,  scrutinizing  his  face  with 
wonder  and  despair,  then  realizing  that  he  had  heard  aright, 
covered  his  face  with  his  hands.  The  gesture  smote  Elliot. 
He  recalled  the  same  piteous  action  under  the  lilacs  that  May 
day,  when  his  Quixotic  impulse  had  involved  him  in  all  this 
misery.  But  as  the  executor  of  duty,  the  avenger  of  out 
raged  morals,  he  could  not  let  sentimental  weaknesses  of 
this  sort  intervene.  His  indignation  had,  however,  fallen 
from  the  high  pressure  stage.  When  he  resumed,  all  his 
rhetorical  flourishes  of  contempt  and  scorn  were  lost  in  the 
conflicting  emotions  of  the  scene. 

"  I  repeat  and  emphasize  what  I  said  to  you  at  Cre"cy. 
The  same  roof  can  never  cover  you  and  me,  nor  you  and 
mine.  I  request  you  to  leave  this  house  ;  I  forbid  you  to 
ever  speak  or  write  to  any  member  of  my  family.  I  will  do 
you  the  mercy  of  keeping  from  the  world  what  I  know  of 
you,  and  by  that  tacit  compact  with  vileness,  I  repay  all  the 
offices  you  have  ever  rendered  me  or  mine." 

"  But,  I  say,  Elliot,  of  what  do  you  accuse  Gray  ?  This  is 
certainly  a  summary  way  of  treating  a  man,"  cried  Philip, 
looking  in  doubt  from  one  to  the  other. 

"  He—  Elliot  couldn't  use  the  name  for  hatred.  "  He 
knows  what  I  mean  and  he  appreciates,  if  there  is  such  a 
thing  as  recognition  in  a  nature  so  base,  the  merciful  silence 
in  which  his  conduct  is  buried.  Come — I  can't  have  you 
remain  in  this  house  ;  it  is  a  desecration  to  every  thing  of 
purity  in  it — I  can't  risk  the  innocent  and  betrayed  again." 

As  he  was  falling  into  the  fine  full  swing  of  the  invective 
35 


546  TRAJAN. 

that  had  boiled  in  him  through  a  night,  like  "  sweltered 
venom  sleeping  got " — a  diversion  of  a  very  striking  sort 
made  this  tragi-comedy  a  mere  prelude  to  the  drama.  In  the 
excitement  of  the  episode,  none  of  the  three  had  marked  the 
ringing  of  the  bell,  a  short  parley  in  the  hall,  the  agitated 
rustle  of  skirts,  until  all  the  family  came  into  the  room  with 
frightened  faces,  followed  by  four  bleary  patriots  trapped 
out  in  such  faded  effulgence  as  left  the  spectators  in  doubt 
whether  they  were  begrimed  marshals  of  the  empire  or 
clowns  from  the  bouffe  theater.  Ranging  themselves  in  a 
row  before  the  door,  one  of  them,  constituting  himself 
spokesman,  read  the  terms  of  several  decrees  of  the  execu 
tive  committee  of  the  commune — not  a  word  of  which  was 
understood  by  any  one  save  Trajan — who  knew,  alas,  before 
the  man  opened  his  mouth  what  the  incursion  meant. 

"  Therefore,  in  virtue  of  this  decree,  we  arrest  the  citizen 
Philip  Kent  and  the  citizen  Elliot  Arden,  in  obedience  to 
the  general  committee's  mandate." 

"Which  is  the  citizen  Kent?"  asked  the  voice,  majesti 
cally. 

Philip  stepped  forward  and  was  taken  between  the  first 
two  of  the  four  gorgeous  functionaries. 

"  C'cst  tres  bien  fdtjoli  garfon  tout  de  me  me,  mats — allons^ 
aliens." 

"  Now  which  is — "  and  he  referred  to  his  list  with  jaunty 
deliberation.  "Which  is  the  citizen  Elliot  Arden."  He 
looked  from  Trajan  to  Elliot,  and  from  Elliot  fastened  his 
eyes  on  Trajan  as  the  most  likely  to  be  the  monster 
denounced  in  the  charge. 

"  I  am  Elliot  Arden,"  said  Trajan  calmly,  stepping  for 
ward  and  placing  himself  between  the  two  remaining  effigies 
of  egalitf. 

"  Mais  cest  encore  fort  bien  fa — maintenant  nous  sonnies 
au  complet :  marchons  !  mesdames,je  vous  salue — nom  de  nom 
quelle  est  belle — quellcs  sont  belles  tous  deux — mats  ces  sont 
dcs  anges" 


TRAJAN  PLA  YS  A  NEW  ROLE.  547 

All  this  time  the  spectators  of  this  grotesque  tragedy 
stood  speechlessly  dazed.  Edith  was  mercifully  but  half  aware 
of  its  tragic  meaning.  Bella,  who  knew  it  perfectly,  lost  the 
sense  of  its  horror  in  the  divine  abnegation  of  the  man  who, 
in  the  amazement  of  measureless  wrong,  had  made  answer  to 
calumny  by  contemptuously  giving  the  calumniator  his  life. 
Bella  had  heard  part  of  Elliot's  hideous  apostrophe,  for  sus 
pecting  something  dire,  but  of  another  sort,  when  Elliot's 
pale  face  startled  the  breakfast-room,  she  had  gone  into  the 
hall  to  ask  Pierre  who  was  in  the  library  ;  she  was  passing 
back  to  the  drawing-room  uneasy  and  half  tempted  to  enter, 
when  the  guards  appeared.  The  most  miserable  culprit, 
conscious  of  guilt,  who  ever  received  reprieve  at  the  last 
second  of  the  eleventh  hour,  never  endured  the  life-time  of 
self-detestation,  despair  and  shame  that  paralyzed  Elliot's 
faculties  as  his  bitter  and  terrible  gibes  were  so  curtly 
refuted.  He  strove  to  speak,  and  as  Trajan  saw  what  he 
was  about,  he  interposed,  speaking  in  the  English  tongue. 

"  It's  useless  for  you  to  avow  yourself,  it  would  only 
involve  the  three  of  us.  Feeling  as  you  feel,  believing  as 
you  believe,  the  only  protection  of  these  defenseless  women 
is  yourself.  Edith,  for  my  sake,  make  him  listen  to  reason. 
Bella,  you  have  a  kind  feeling  for  me  I  know,  be  a  mother 
to  my  darling."  But  he  could  not  keep  up  this  composed 
tone.  Even  the  Spartan  control  that  a  life-time  of  bitter 
ingratitudes  and  undeserved  misconstruction  taught  him, 
broke  down  before  the  frightened  and  incredulous  glance  of 
the  being  he  loved. 

"  Oh,  Trajan,  Trajan,  what  does  it  all  mean  ?  Elliot, 
Elliot,  speak  ;  say  you  are  Elliot,  don't  let  Trajan  go — 
Shame —  '  Bella,  on  an  imploring  gesture  from  Trajan,  seized 
her  and  by  force  dragged  her  back,  whispering  hurriedly  : 

"  It  is  only  for  a  little  time.  Trajan  can  escape,  Elliot 
couldn't.  Trajan  has  friends  in  the  commune — for  God's 
sake,  Edith,  do  not  expose  the  ruse — aunty — mother,  come 
to  her."  But  there  was  no  longer  any  fear  of  exposure.  A 


548  TRAJAN. 

kinder  hand  than  kin  intervened  and  the  troubled  little  brain 
was  in  the  grateful  rest  of  unconsciousness. 

"  Monsieur,"  Trajan  began. 

"  Citizen  Arden,  you  pain  me — there  is  no  more  of  mon 
sieur  in  the  noble  reign  of  the  commune." 

"  Ah — true — a  slip  into  the  superstition  of  the  past.  I  am 
about  to  ask  you,  citizen,  if  you  would  not  permit  me  to 
embrace  the  citoyenne — she  is  my  fiancee" 

u  Mais  certainement — what  do  you  take  us  for  ?  Kiss  all 
round  and  we  will  turn  our  backs — that  is  more  than  is 
prescribed  in  the  regulations — you  can't  ask  a  soldier  to  bear 
every  thing.  What  !  look  at  other  lips  kissing  such  divinities 
as  these. — Ah,  that  I  were  in  your  lucky  shoes — coquin  that 
you  are  !  " 

Trajan  kneeled  beside  the  gracious  figure  lying  on  the 
mother's  bosom  and  reverently  pressed  the  open  lips.  He 
clasped  the  slender  form,  undulating  like  a  crushed  vine  in 
his  strong  arms  and  his  tears  flowed  over  the  lovely  face — 
"  Tell  her  that  her  love  was  as  the  benediction  of  God  to 
me — tell  her  that  since  I  have  known  her,  she  has  never 
been  out  of  my  thoughts  by  day,  nor  my  dreams  by  night — 
tell  her  that  she  is  not  to  mourn  for  me,  but  when  some 
honest  fellow  comes,  make  his  life  the  Heaven  she  has  made 
mine — tell  her 

"  But  I  say,  citizen,  you  know  one  can't  eternize  one's 
self-denials — come,  we  must  go — " 

Elliot  started,  crying  :  "  No — stay — I  have  something  to 
say,  citizen — I " 

"  Citizen,  pay  no  heed  to  that  unhappy  young  man.  He 
is  insane,"  said  Trajan,  without  lookmg  at  him. 

"  Oh,  Elliot,  Elliot,  for  my  sake — I  shall  die,  if  you  go— 
I,  oh — aunty  command  him  to  save  himself  and  save  us  " — 
and  Bella  caught  him  imploringly. 

"  Marchons — en  avant — houp-la" 

Elliot  half  dragging  his  mother  and  Bella,  made  for  the 
departing  cortege.  "  Phil,  in  God's  name  speak  and  don't 


TRAJAN  PL  A  YS  A  NEW  ROLE.  549 

let  me  be  disgraced — Phil — I  say — soldiers,  I  am  Elliot 
Arden — the  man  you  have  is  an  impostor — I  command  you — 
arrest  me — I — ah — mother — Bella — how  can  you  connive 
at  my  dishonor — my  ignoble  baseness  ? — let  me  go,  I  say — 
what  is  life  worth  at  such  a  price — what — '  He  had  freed 
himself  from  the  pleading,  hampering  arms,  but  at  the  door 
Kate  stood — grim  and  terrible. 

"  Ye've  played  th'  fule  long  eno'  for  a  grown  man — have 
some  sense  while  it's  no'  too  late  ;  th'  man  ye've  reviled's  too 
good  to  be  in  the  world  wi'  th'  likes  o'  ye',  let  him  go,  where 
Jezebel  can't  cross  his  blameless  life." 

With  an  angry  wrench,  he  whirled  Cerberus  from  the  door 
and  was  in  the  vestibule — the  sound  of  the  soldiers'  steps 
had  died  out.  He  seized  the  door,  arid  though  he  pulled 
with  the  force  of  madness,  it  did  not  yield.  Trajan  had 
caused  the  soldiers  to  lock  it  on  the  outside,  fearing  the 
"  madman  "  might  attempt  to  follow.  Elliot  began  to  believe 
himself  that  he  was  a  madman.  What,  the  basest  of  man 
kind  had  as  coolly  as  though  changing  a  glove  from  one 
hand  to  the  other,  stepped  forward,  while  he  was  thinking 
only  of  himself,  and  placed  his  neck  in  the  halter ! 

Yes,  he  must  be  mad.  He  fell  upon  the  sofa  near  the  hat- 
rack  and  as  the  sobbing  women  gathered  about  him,  gazed 
fjxedly  at  each  in  turn.  Yes,  it  was  his  mother.  It  was 
Bella,  it  was  Kate  and  there  too,  frightened  and  bewildered, 
the  kind  old  face  of  Pierre.  What  did  it  mean  ?  Had  his 
suffering  and  suspense  during  the  last  weeks  turned  his 
brain,  as  Trajan,  with  the  cold  emphasis  of  an  examining 
specialist  had  said  ? 

Yes,  he  must  be  a  chattering  madman  ;  if  not,  how  could  he 
have  been  so  misled.  He  exulted  in  the  thought.  Pie  was  not 
a  weak,  credulous  dolt,  the  plaything  of  a  cruel  and  wicked 
devil— yes — yes — he  whispered  to  himself,  staring  vacantly 
at  the  sobbing  trio — insane — God  be  praised,  insane  and  not 
the  hateful  wretch  he  thought,  when  Trajan — with  never  a 
look  or  thought  for  Bella  or  any  one  else  whatsoever  in  the 


55°  TRAJAN. 

world  he  was  giving  up  to  let  him  live,  had  caressed  the 
lifeless  form  of  Edith.  But  where  was  Edith.  He  started 
— surely  every  body  in  this  fatal  house  was  insane. 

He  flew  to  where  the  child  still  lay  prone  upon  the  floor — 
forgotten — no — Mrs.  Briscoe  was  holding  the  fair  head  and 
the  bonne  stood  weeping  by  her  side.  She  was  opening  her 
violet  eyes.  She  saw  her  brother's  face  and  smiled.  She  tried 
to  raise  herself,  but  the  effort  was  beyond  her.  She  was  in 
his  arms  now,  and  he  kissed  her  fondly,  much  as  her  mother 
might,  whispering  to  himself — "  Insane — insane.  God  be 
praised,  insane."  But  a  sudden  thought  gave  quick  strength 
to  Edith.  She  unlocked  her  arms  and  looking  up  in  her 
mother's  face  asked  confidingly  ; 

"  Mamma,  invite  Trajan  to  come  in,  Elliot  is  sorry  that 
he  was  cruel  to  him— Elliot  wants  me  to  ask  forgiveness  of 
him  for  the  great  wrong " 

Elliot  rose  like  a  flash.  "  My  God,  mother,  am  I  mad,  or 
am  I  in  a  dream — for  God's  sake  tell  me  ? " 

"  My  son,  you  have  gone  through  a  most  painful  ordeal. 
You  have  given  life  and  happiness  to  all  of  us  ;  you  have 
done  under  most  grievous  temptation  the  sublimest  duty  a 
man  can  do.  You  have  made  a  noble  sacrifice  of  self  to 
save  your  sister's,  your  mother's  and  Bella's  happiness,  per 
haps  life."  She  folded  him  in  her  arms  as  she  spoke.  His 
head  fell  upon  her  shoulder  and  there  was  a  solemn  silence 
in  the  room.  Bella  had  replaced  her  mother  by  Edith's 
side,  who  sat  staring  in  wonder  at  the  mother  and  son. 

"  Where  is  Trajan,"  she  asked  quite  composedly. 

No  one  knew  what  to  answer.  Bella  kissed  her,  but  she 
pushed  her  head  gently  aside  and  looked  square  at  Elliot. 

"  Neddy,  where  is  Trajan,  I'm  sure  he  was  here  a  moment 
since,  where  did  he  go.  Please  tell  him  I  want  him  !  " 

Elliot  put  his  mother  softly  from  him  and  coming  over  to 
his  sister,  picked  her  up  bodily  and  carried  her  to  her  room. 
He  asked  his  mother  to  watch  over  her,  and  touching  her 
forehead  with  his  lips,  said  tenderly  : 


TRAJAN  PLA  YS  A  NEW  ROLE.  551 

'"  Trajan  shall  come  to  you — I  promise  you.  Bella,  will 
you  come  with  me  ? "  and  as  the  others  who  had  followed 
silently  looked  in  anguish  after  him,  he  added:  "  Have  no 
fear.  I  shall  not  quit  the  house  to-day."  When  he  had 
reached  the  library  again,  and  Bella  stood  beside  him,  he 
took  Trajan's  crumpled  note  from  his  pocket  and  handing  it 
to  her  said  : 

"  Bella,  what  does  this  mean  ?  " 

She  looked  at  the  note,  then  at  her  interrogator  in  .bewilder 
ment. 

"  Where  did  you  get  that  ? " 

"  I  found  it  where  you  were  sitting  in  my  room  last  night, 
or  rather  this  morning  ;  explain  it  !  " 

"  That's  easy  enough,  I  declare  I  don't  see  how  it  needs 
explanation.  It  was  written  in  answer  to  one  from  me  last 
night,  and  alluded  to  a  dreadful  creature  that  came  here 
inquiring  for  you."  As  she  said  this,  for  the  first  time  a 
suspicion  of  the  concierge  s  inference  that  there  might  have 
been  something  between  Elliot  and  the  woman  came  into 
her  mind.  At  this  humiliating  thought  she  glanced  away 
from  him  and  sank  limply  into  a  chair.  He  followed  her, 
piercing  her  with  his  blue  eyes — all  steel,  now  that  Bella's 
confusion  confirmed  his  worst  suspicions. 

"  But  what  does  it  mean  about  signals  and  suspense,  and 
keeping  Edith  in  the  dark  ?" 

Still  unsuspicious  of  the  intent  of  his  queries  she  narrated 
all  that  had  happened  since  his  departure.  Trajan's  solicitude 
by  night  and  day.  His  efforts  to  get  news  to  Versailles  or 
from  there.  His  tender  thoughtfulness  that  the  danger  of 
their  situation  might  not  be  suspected  by  Edith,  her  mother 
or  Mrs.  Arden.  His  watch  from  the  mansard  by  night  and 
day.  His  final  note  announcing  that  he  had  perfected  a  plan 
of  escape. 

"  Oh,  Bella,  what  a  miserable  driveling  fool  I've  been. 
Do  you  know  that  I  ordered  that  man  out  of  this  house  in 
terms  that  would  have  made  a  monk  a  murderer." 


552  TRAJAN. 

"  What !  The  man  who  risked  his  life  to  get  you  from 
danger  at  Meaux  ?  The  man  who  bore  with  patience  the 
calumnious  innuendoes  of — of — a  heartless  woman  at  Crecy  ? 
Ah,  Elliot,  I  am  ashamed  to  see  you  living  before  me,  and 
an  hour  ago  I  thought  I  could  not  live  to  see  you  in  danger 
of  death." 

She  shrunk  from  him — even  pushing  the  chair  to  put  a 
greater  distance  between  them.  He  made  no  attempt  to 
follow.  He  fell  into  an  abstraction — incoherent — vapid. 
He  had  no  longer  a  faculty  of  thinking  left.  He  had  arrived 
at  that  most  pitiable  of  all  mental  crises — when  a  man 
shrinks  from  looking  at  his  own  mind.  He  realized  in  a 
sort  of  exoteric  way  that  his  intellect  no  longer  served  him. 
That  he  couldn't  trust  it. 

"  And  knowing  all  this,  you  let  me  go  on  blindly  in  the 
dark,  forcing  myself  to  hate  a  man  I  loved  ?  Oh — Bella — 
Bella—" 

"  Knowing  all  what  ?  That  you  were  misreading  a  chival 
rous  nature  born  generations  too  late  to  be  understood  ? 
That  you  were  taking  the  malicious  hints  of  an  unfeeling 
coquette,  rather  than  the  evidences  of  your  own  eyes  and 
ears  ?  Could  a  man  whose  soul  was  not  sanctified  by  the  love 
of  truth,  whose  heart  was  not  brave  with  the  courage  of 
purity,  endure  what  he  endured  at  Crecy — stand  in  utter 
forgetfulness  of  self  to  save  a  woman  he  hardly  even  knew, 
while  the  woman  he  adored  kneeled  fainting  in  sight  of  him  ? 
If  the  love  of  the  wicked  woman  leads  the  -feet  to  hell,  it 
steeps  the  brain  in  a  deadening  potion.  And  you  didn't 
even  have  the  generosity  to  know  the  hand  that  cut  your 
cords  in  the  prison  at  Meaux  ?  No  congenial  instinct  told 
you  on  reading  that  note,  that  this  martyr  was  risking  his 
life  day  and  night,  that  no  knowledge  of  danger  might  come 
to  you  and  yours  ?" 

She  had  risen  as  these  impetuous  and  withering  reproaches 
poured  from  her  lips,  her  eyes  blazing,  her  nostrils  quivering  ! 
"  Oh,  Elliot — my  kinsman — if  you  are  not  as  wicked  as  you 


TRAJAN  PLA  YS  A  NEW  ROLE.  553 

are  weak — you  will  now  act  like  a  man.  You  will  place 
Edith,  my  mother,  yours  and  Kate  in  security  and  you  will 
join  me  in  saving  the  life  of  this  man  among  dolts.  But 
aside  from  the  vindication  of  your  own  compromised  man 
hood,  his  death  will  kill  Edith.  You  must  save  his  life  to 
save  hers." 

Elliot,  who  had  sat  listlessly,  as  if  only  half  conscious  of 
this  frank  analysis  of  his  claims  to  manliness,  rose  quite 
deliberately  and  taking  Bella's  hands  in  both  his  own  asked 
in  the  most  tranquil  voice  in  the  world  : 

"  Bella,  do  you  love  Trajan  Gray  ?  " 

She  looked  him  straight  in  the  eye,  her  head  imperiously 
erect,  her  dark  eyes  scintillating  with  almost  arrogant 
triumph. 

u  I  adore  Trajan  Gray  ;  I  have  adored  him  since  the 
moment,  half  dead,  torn  and  bleeding,  ignoring  me  as  if  I 
had  been  a  clod,  he  endured  the  agonies  of  the  stake  to 
assure  himself  that  the  woman  he  loved  was  safe.  I  have 
adored  him  each  hour  that  I  saw  him  consecrating  every 
thought  of  his  life,  every  dream  of  his  future  to  the  woman 
he  loved.  I  adore  him  more  than  ever  now  as  I  see  him 
standing  there,  the  scar  of  your  intolerable  wrong  upon  his 
pure  heart,  and  giving  up  his  own  life  that  the  woman  he 
loved  might  keep  her  brother,  her  mother  and  her  cousin  in 
unity.  I  adore  him  as  I  adore  a  divine  creature  that  an 
earthly  heart  may  not  dream  of  possessing." 

"  Does  Trajan  know  this  ?  " 

"  Does  the  sun  know  that  mankind  delights  in  it  ?  No — I 
have  never  by  word,  look  or  sign  given  him  a  hint  of  this 
idolatry.  An  idolatry  as  far  removed  from  the  passion  of 
love,  as  the  instinct  of  religion  from  the  sham  of  worship. 
I  feel  purified  and  ennobled  in  the  thought  that  I  have  read 
him  aright.  I  have  been  educated  in  every  virtue  in  watch 
ing  the  outgrowth  of  his  pure,  tender,  immeasurable  love 
for  the  woman  of  all  women  fitted  to  mate  with  him.  The 
happiness  in  store  for  Edith  was  only  less  joy  to  me  than  to 


554  TRAJAN. 

her.  I  would  willingly  sacrifice  all  that  is  dearest  to  me  to 
see  them  standing  at  the  altar."  She  came  close  to  him  as 
she  added,  "  You  don't  understand  this.  You  think  that  a 
woman's  heart  is  so  small  a  vessel  that  it  can  contain  but 
one  process  of  action  ?  I  should  adore  Trajan  Gray  all  my 
life  if  he  lived,  I  shall  worship  his  memory  all  my  life — but 
if  he  were  here  and  heart-free,  I  could  never  love  him  with 
the  love  I  mean  to  give  my  husband." 

"  And  who  is  that  husband  to  be  ? "  Elliot  asked,  still  in 
the  curious  calm  in  which  he  had  inaugurated  this  extraordi 
nary  courtship.  Bella's  eyes  fell  ;  all  her  imperiousness  was 
gone.  She  was  gentle  as  Edith,  and  even  more  timid.  She 
strove  to  release  the  two  hands  held  imprisoned. 

"  That's  a  very  unusual  question  for  any  one  but  a  mother 
to  ask." 

"  You  are  an  unusual  girl  and  I  want  you  to  answer." 

"  Suppose  I  say  I  don't  know  ?  " 

"  Then  I  shall  know  you  are  not  telling  the  truth." 

But  the  truth,  whatever  it  waste  be,  lay  hidden  at  the  bot 
tom  of  the  well,  which  the  future  only  was  to  bring  to  the 
surface  ;  for  while  Bella's  eye  was  resuming  its  imperious 
gleam,  Kate  appeared. 

"  Here's  a  letter  for  you,  Elliot.  The  messenger  won't  go 
without  your  receipt  for  it — written  in  your  own  hand  and  in 
his  presence.  He  is  waiting  at  the  concierge 's  desk." 

When  Elliot  had  gone  from  the  room  Kate,  looking  at 
Bella  keenly,  said  sententiously,  as  though  the  remark  were 
the  corollary  of  a  preceding  series  of  propositions. 

"  She'll  die  if  harm  comes  to  Trajan.  It's  a  love,  not  of 
the  sort  you  masterfu'  young  women  feel — all  her  soul  and 
heart  are  in  it.  It's  part  o'  her  religion.  Are  ye  goin'  to 
tie  Elliot  to  yer  futstool  while  the  poor  lad  is  going  till  his 
death  yonder  ?  " 

"  I  have  given  Elliot  to  understand  that  Trajan's  death 
will  outlaw  him  from  even  his  mother's  heart.  God  forgive 
me,  I  think  I  have  been  as  harsh  and  cruel  to  him  as  he  has 


TRAJAN  PLA  YS  A  NEW  ROLE.  555 

beeft  brutal  and  unjust  to  Trajan — but  Kate  you  must  not 
blame  the  poor  fellow  too  much  ;  he — he  heard,  that  is  he 
believed — he  thought — that — that  Trajan — was  in  love  with 
me — and  that  I  knew  it  and  shared  it." 

"Th'  bletherin'  eejiot,"  was   Kate's  expository  comment. 

"  Don't  be  too  hard  on  the  poor  fellow  ;  he  was  made  to 
believe  it  by  some  one — who — we  can  guess." 

"Ay,  I  can  well  guess,  that  lineal  rib  of  Endor — th' 
bane  o'  this  house,  sencethe  first  moment  her  idolatrous  heel 
rested  on  its  threshold  !  And  let  me  say  sin'  I'm  dealing  in 
th'  truth  for  th'  time — ye're  no  without  shame  yersel'  in  this 
braw  business.  Yer  foolish  pride  and  canniness  held  th' 
lad  awa  frae  ye  and  gave  his  claymore  in  th'  hands  o'  Jezebel. 
If  ye  had  let  him  see,  what  a'  th'  rest  of  us  saw — what  Jezebel 
herself  saw — he  would  never  ha' given  himsel'  to  her  wicked 
tricks.  But  he's  been  well  workit  for  it,  though  his  sins  be 
heavy,  and  worse  than  all,  his  punishment  touches  the  inno 
cent  and  leal.  Ye  maun  brace  him  to  do  a  mon's 
duty,  for  his  own  sake,  his  sister's  sake  and  ye're  ain — for 
ye'd  no  prize  a  mon  that  gave  his  best  friend  over  to  th' 
headsman,  or  ye're  never  the  noble  spirit  I've  held  ye." 

"  Kate,  you  are  a  creature  of  diabolical  prejudices.  Elliot 
has  been  greatly  misguided,  but,"  forgetting  her  own  recent 
vehemence  with  delicious  inconsequence,  "  he  is  neither 
weak  nor  frivolous.  He  has  not  been  the  dupe  of  the  de 
signing  person  you  allude  to.  I've  no  doubt  her  preference 
flattered  him  and  he  thought  himself  bound  to  respond.  How 
could  any  girl  help  loving  a  nature  so  frank,  a  soul  so  loyal 
as  Elliot's  ?  Have  you  ever  seen  a  man  that  could  be  com 
pared  with  him  ?  He  hasn't  Trajan's  saint-like  patience,  nor 
his  penetration;  his  very  faults  emphasize  the  winning  graces 
of  his  character  ;  all  truth  and  directness  himself,  he  is 
made  the  victim  of  every  indirection  practiced  upon  him, 
simply  because  he  is  incapable  of  imagining  the  foulness  of 
the  ignoble,  or  the  false  in  others.  You  will  see  him  redeem 
his  errors  now  I  pledge  myself  for  it  !  " 


556  TRAJAN. 

"  I  shall  believe  it  when  I  see  it  and  not  till  then,"*said 
Kate,  a  little  skeptically.  "  I've  heard  his  pledges  before. 
He  swore  to  me  in  London  when  his  wickedness  had 
set  him  under  th'  very  clods  of  th'  grave,  that 
he'd  be  a  different  man  and  see  Jezebel  no  more.  How 
long  did  he  hold  th'  oath  ?  Th'  first  minute  he  was  able  to 
stir  out  he  was  at  her  side  and  came  home  like  a  maniac 
blazing  with  new  diviltries,  sh'd  put  him  up  to.  I'll  believe 
in  his  sense  when  I  see  him  well  married  to  some  girl  that 
has  head  enough  for  twa.  I'm  no  sayin'  it's  heart  th'  lad 
wants.  He  has  eno'  for  a  dozen,  but  he's  prone  to  th'  first 
fool  counsel  that  falls  on  his  ear." 

"  Not  a  flattering  character,  that,  Kate  ;  who  is  the  luckless 
victim  ? "  said  Elliot,  entering  from  the  sleeping  room. 

"  A  lad  in  a  fairy  story  I  once  read,  to  whom  his  fairy 
godmother  gave  all  th'  gifts,  but  judgment.  He  ruled  a 
kingdom  of  adoring  fules,  and  took  hawks,  bats  and  blind 
men  for  his  councilors." 

"  And  did  he  reign  long  ?  " 

"  No,  the  bats  and  birds  of  prey  drove  off  or  devoured  all 
th'  true  friends,  and  whoever  loved  or  trusted  him  were 
beheaded  or  alienated,  and  he  was  devoured  by  th'  hawks 
when  he  no  longer  had  leal  friends  to  defend  him." 

"A  lugrubrious  fable,  Kate  ;  what  does  it  teach  ?" 

"  The  danger  of  doves  taking  counsel  of  hawks  ;  of  lambs 
bleating  th'  howl  of  th'  wolf  ;  of  truth  blindin'  its  e'en  and 
letting  craft  lead  it." 

"  Kate,  you  rival  Lafontaine  ;  he  made  animals  talk,  but 
you  make  them  preach — Fables  of  the  Conventicle  as  it 
were.  But  we  must  be  at  more  important  work  just  now. 
Trajan  and  Philip  must  be  snatched  from  the  jaws  of  the 
monster,  and  I  must  do  it."  He  looked  at  Bella  with  a  curi 
ous  sort  of  implicitness,  as  if  he  had  some  assurance  that  this 
self-devotion  was  to  have  the  reward  of  her  love.  She  had 
not  said  it.  He  had  not  asked  it.  Was  it  really  true  ?  Had 
they  come  to  the  end  of  parting  and  caprice  ?  Had  Bella 


TRAJAN  PLA  YS  A  NEW  ROLE.  557 

come  to  the  end  of  her  wild  strange  ways  and  was  the  real 
to  replace  the  ideal  in  her  wayward  heart  ?  Ah,  satiric  imp, 
that  sits  the  saddle,  riding  our  hearts  whither  you  list,  did 
you  laugh  or  weep  at  this  incongruous  picture  ?  Were  the 
reins  fallen  from  your  trembling  hands  and  were  the  steeds 
of  these  two  natures  running  whither  they  listed  ?  Were 
they  to  canter  over  green  fields  and  by  purling  brooks  and 
find  blooming  pasture  and  untroubled  life  ? 

And  as  the  "  adored "  Trajan  tramped  silently  along 
with  Philip  under  the  mild  April  sunshine,  through 
ranks  of  jeering  patriots,  buffeting,  striking  and  spitting — 
the  hatred  of  the  elect  upon  the  defiled  foe — to  the 
altar  of  the  people's  sacrifice,  the  tabernacle  of  vengeance 
and  blood,  the  prison  of  the  Grand  Roquette,  whose  min 
istering  furies  eagerly  waited  the  sacrificial  tokens  ;  and 
while  his  sweetheart  lay  delirious  in  the  darkened  cham 
ber  yonder, — was  the  course  of  this  true  love  to  be  long 
clogged,  darkened,  and  its  trace  often  wholly  lost  like  the 
mysterious  stream  that  "  ran  measureless  to  man  down  to  a 
sunless  sea,"  or  to  flow,  broad,  uninterrupted  and  serene  in 
the  sunlight  and  under  the  stars  never  again  to  be  broken  or 
checkered  by  ripple  or  cloud  ?  Why  not  ?  The  bells  that 
ring  in  the  orange  odors,  or  the  babe  that's  born,  sound  as 
well  for  the  clay  that  is  carrying  to  the  narrow  pit,  there;  the 
tears  of  joy  and  the  tears  of  woe  spring  from  the  same  source  ! 

Why  should  it  seem  sinister  that  Trajan's  death  sentence 
should  be  the  signal  of  his  friend's  felicity  ?  Don't  we  see 
these  conditions  daily  ?"  Pray,  madame,  rustling  in  your  silks 
and  laces,  did  it  make  you  any  less  proud  and  imperious  the 
other  night  when  you  received  that  glorious  robe  of  lace  and 
China  silk,  to  see  the  sunken  eye  and  pallid  cheek  of  Susan 
the  seamstress,  who  fell  dead  on  your  kitchen  stair,  with  a 
few  dollars,  the  price  of  weeks  of  toil,  jingling  in  her  tightly 
clutching  fingers  ?  Or,  sir,  with  your  millions,  do  you  drink  a 
single  drop  less  of  the  cup  of  adulation,  that  the  water  in 
your  stock  drowned  a  score  of  widows  and  drove  helpless 


558  TRAJAN. 

men  to  the  pistol  ?  And  why  blame  or  even  moralize  ?  Is  not 
the  passion  of  mating  the  strongest  in  us  ?  Why  then  break 
the  golden  bowl,  because  one  lip  the  less  is  to  drink  the 
potion  ?  At  sea  when  hunger  overtakes  the  castaway  in  the 
long  boat,  lot  makes  a  man's  friend  his  food.  Some  must 
die  !  Some  must  live  ! 

Elliot,  however,  felt  deeply  the  anguish  of  his  situation. 
He  had  gained  no  promise  ;  but  he  had  gained  the  force  of 
a  great  impulse.  He  owned  with  a  sense  of  inexpiable  guilt, 
that  he  was  coming  to  his  own  with  a  fratricidal  hand  and 
not  by  the  natural  laws  of  selection  or  heredity.  He  shrank 
from  thinking  at  all,  as  he  saw  the  vision  of  his  happiness, 
over  the  dead  body  of  his  wronged  friend.  If  he  did  not 
snatch  him  from  self-imposed  death,  he  would  expiate  his 
wrong  by  dying  with  him,  if  he  could  not  die  for  him.  He 
thought  of  the  strange  destiny  that  had  first  brought  them 
face  to  face  ;  he  had  saved  him  from  self-death,  only  to 
drive  him  to  suicide  in  the  end. 

If  we  had  not  followed  this  young  man's  mental  processes 
before  and  seen  his  fine  resolutions  dissolved  like  wafers  in 
the  wine,  we  might  look  forward  to  heroic  work,  to  cap  the 
climax  of  all  we  have  thus  far  seen.  But  we  are  justified  in 
skepticism  when  we  recall  the  wondrous  potency  of  those 
emerald  eyes,  the  irresistible  seduction  of  the  wit  that  Theo 
never  exerted  in  vain.  Now  the  realities  before  the  lovers 
were  of  the  sternest  sort.  The  summary  decree  of  the  com 
mune  had  called  for  Arden  as  a  spy,  an  accomplice  of  Philip 
Kent,  an  emissary  of  the  Prussian  allies  at  Versailles.  Even 
had  they  been  indifferent  to  Trajan's  fate,  his  taking  off 
would  not  secure  Elliot's  safety.  The  first  thing  to  be  done 
was  to  warn  the  servants  that  Elliot  Arden  was  no  longer  to 
be  spoken  of  as  existing.  The  next  to  devise  means  to 
secure  the  family  from  visitations  of  the  agents  of  the  com 
mune.  Then  Elliot  would  be  free  to  devise  Trajan's  rescue. 

He  was  not  much  known  in  the  quarter,  as  he  had  always 
kept  rooms  over  the  river.  He  prudently  colored  his  blonde 


TRAJAN  PLA  YS  A  NEW  ROLE.  559 

locks  as  near  black  as  the  most  powerful  dyes  could  make 
them,  stained  his  face  to  a  Nubian  brown,  changed  the 
elegance  of  his  apparel  for  a  more  student-like  carelessness, 
and  reappeared  in  the  family  group,  an  ebon  shade  of  his 
golden  self.  Kate  only  was  taken  into  the  lovers'  confi 
dence,  as  from  certain  twitches  about  that  sly  person's 
mouth,  when  the  young  people  met  her  in  leaving  the  library, 
Bella  conjectured  that  hers  was  the  rustle  that  rescued  her 
from  the  embarrassment  of  an  answer.  Edith  was  still  hap 
pily  but  half  conscious  of  the  bolt  that  had  struck  her,  and 
the  anxious  ministry  had  the  night  before  them  to  prepare  a 
plan  of  operations.  Bella  proved  the  most  inventive  of  the 
three.  Her  florid  imagination  had  the  quality  of  concen 
trating  when  she  came  to  devise  action,  and  when  the  trio 
separated,  Elliot  felt  equal  to  the  work  assigned  him  by 
his  colleagues. 

While  these  perverse  symptoms  were  fermenting  in  the 
people  we  have  been  studying  in  these  pages,  belying  all 
our  preconceptions  of  them,  where  were  Trajan  and  the  luck 
less  Philip  ?  Were  they  too  taking  on  the  color  and  break 
ing  put  in  the  mental  rash,  that  seems  to  have  affected  all 
who  came  within  the  scope  of  this  social  and  political 
euthanasia  ?  Had  terror  transformed  the  contained  doctrin 
aire  of  the  rights  of  man,  as  remorse  had  metamorphosed 
his  whimsical  friend  ?  Was  he  like  Theo  prey  to  the 
tortures  that  self-confessed  maladroitness  had  reduced  the 
most  inveterate  self-confidence  and  faculty  to  ? 

Is  there  really  a  reserve  of  strength  to  support  the  spirit  of 
the  just  doer  in  adversity  ?  If  so,  why  do  we  see  the  purest 
and  most  spotless  of  her  sex  stretched  broken  in  heart  and 
mind  in  the  cloistered  splendor  of  the  Ardens,  while  the 
dismal  salon  of  the  Bellechasse  is  agog  with  the  impish 
spirit  of  Theo's  babbling  gayety  ?  I  firmly  believe  that  true 
conscious  honor  is  a  coat  of  gauze,  wherethrough  every 
arrow  of  meanness  and  malignity  penetrates,  while  impu 
dence,  selfishness,  greed  and  all  unloveliness,  uncleanness 


560  TRAJAN. 

and  baseness,  are  panoplied  in  the  triple  armor  of  the  mail  of 
indifference,  impenetrable  to  the  law  of  justice,  ideal  or 
actual. 

Elliot,  who  certainly  sins  through  impulse  and  wrongs 
through  skillfully  fed  prejudice,  can  think  of  lovemaking 
while  the  ghastly  figure  of  death  to  those  near  and 
dear  to  him  almost  jostles  the  clothes  of  the  grave  about 
him !  Theo,  in  the  wreck  of  her  far-reaching  schemes, 
claps  on  the  cap  and  bells  and  makes  merry  in  the  great 
house  yonder.  While  Trajan,  guiltless  in  every  thing  but  a 
dog-like  devotion  to  the  three  or  four  people  he  has 
enshrined  in  his  foolish  heart,  is  buffeted  in  the  streets  and 
maltreated  in  the  temples  of  the  gods  he  had  himself 
invoked,  and  thinks  only  of  how  he  may  make  his  sacrifice  a 
redemption  for  those  in  peril  ! 

Indeed,  as  I  have  told  you  from  the  first,  there  would  be 
no  occasion  to  write  this  history,  had  Trajan  been  a  young 
man  of  well  ordered  circumspection.  He  held  that  society 
needed  reconstruction  !  And  so  here  the  reconstruction  was 
come  and  he  was  the  first  to  find  himself  discarded  from  the 
new  life.  He  had  preached  the  communism  of  equal  politi 
cal  duties  !  His  acolytes  had  carried  the  doctrine  to  the 
buccaneer  principle  of  equal  division  of  property.  He  had 
maintained  the  right  of  the  majority  to  rule  !  His  pupils  had 
enforced  its  right  to  misrule.  He  had  plead  the  wrong,  the 
iniquity  of  human  execution,  by  the  individual  or  the  state  ! 
His  disciples  were  enforcing  a  lex  talionis  more  sweeping 
than  the  absolutism  of  all  the  divinely  anointed  slaughterers 
from  Dionysius  to  Bonaparte. 

The  prisoners  were  first  halted  in  the  barracks  of  the  Car 
rousel,  where  the  guards,  falling  into  drink,  forgot  them  a 
whole  day.  The  companies  being  ordered  to  the  forts,  the 
captors  made  another  start,  but  meeting  cronies  in  the  Rue 
de  Rivoli,  they  locked  the  "  bandits "  in  a  neighboring 
prefecture  and  indulged  in  another  spree.  Trajan  indulged 
hopes  of  slipping  from  these  easy-going  patriots,  when  on 


TRAJAN  PLA  YS  A  NEW  ROLE.  561 

the  third  day,  they  were  summoned  to  go  to  the  Hotel  de 
Ville  to  confront  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety. 

Trajan  kept  up  his  spirits  to  encourage  Philip  and  even  went 
to  the  extent  of  making  merry  over  his  own  plight  in  the 
revolution  he  had  preached  since  he  knew  Paris.  Nor  did  he 
admit  regret  for  his  undisciplined  enthusiasm,  as  the  gaudy 
guardsmen  hurried  them  through  clamoring  citoyens  and 
citoyennes  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  where  the  Central  Com 
mittee  were  to  adjudge  their  guilt.  The  guards  were  far 
kinder  than  the  patriots  who  ran  in  groups  to  see  the  "  ban 
dits  of  Thiers  "  pass.  Many  a  time  the  wretched  prisoners 
were  seized  and  dragged  from  their  protecting  captors, 
before,  almost  in  tatters,  their  faces  bleeding  and  their  bodies 
bruised,  they  were  hurried  toward  the  great  court  of  the  Hotel 
de  Ville.  The  bloody  ordeal  was  not,  however,  without  a 
compensating  chance.  At  the  corner  of  the  Boulevard 
Sebastopol,  where  they  came  upon  a  dense  mass  of  the  male 
and  female  soldiery  of  the  patriots,  an  onset  by  an  Amazon 
group,  attracted  an  officer  of  the  general  staff  riding  toward 
the  Hotel  de  Ville.  In  spite  of  his  profuse  trappings  and 
theatrical  plumes,  Trajan  recognized  him,  and  as  a  large 
limbed  vengeresse  of  the  People  fairly  twisted  his  neck  awry, 
with  the  vigorous  wrench  she  gave  his  hair,  he  succeeded  in 
giving  the  astonished  officer  the  old  society  signal.  Drawing 
his  sword,  he  rode  into  the  mette,  scattering  the  shrieking 
demi-reps  right  and  left. 

"  Norn  de  Dieu — Mon  ami,  what  does  this  mean  ? "  It  was 
Belcour,  and  he  recognized  Trajan  through  the  blood  and 
tatters. 

"  Can  you  not  come  to  the  hearing  ?  We  are  going  to  the 
executive  committee — I  will  explain  after  we  get  out  of  the 
clutches  of  these  furies."  Rene  nodded.  Then  standing 
up  in  his  stirrups,  he  shouted  : 

"  Mes  concitoyens,  you  are  wronging  one  of  the  first 
patriots  of  the  patrie — the  destroyer  of  Bonaparte — one  of 
the  Treize-Treize." 

36 


562  TRAJAN. 

The  crowd  fell  away  hurrahing  and  the  group  moved  on. 
Before  reaching  the  door,  Rene  who  had  dismounted,  was 
apprised  of  all  Trajan  thought  prudent  to  tell.  He  gave 
little  hope  of  being  able  to  extricate  his  old  friend  from 
the  peril,  but  pressing  his  hand  as  he  mounted  and  rode  on 
ahead,  he  protested  his  devotion.  To  Trajan's  great  surprise 
Rene  met  the  guard  at  the  door,  with  a  group  of  cavalrymen. 
He  was  himself  quite  transformed  in  the  few  minutes  he 
had  been  in  the  building.  The  conducting  party  were  halted 
at  the  general  office  on  the  ground  floor,  where  Rene  himself 
coming  forward,  asked  : 

"  Citoyen,  who  are  these  ?  " 

"  Spies  arrested  by  order  of  the  Committee  of  Public 
Safety." 

"  The  papers  ? " 

"  Here  they  are — void  the  spy  Kent,  this  man — and  the 
spy  Arden,  this  man." 

"  Citoyen,  you  have  done  well,  you  may  return  to  your 
quarter,  the  committee  shall  know  your  service." 

Rene  disappeared  in  the  bureau,  directing  the  cavalrymen 
to  guard  the  prisoners.  He  returned  in  a  few  minutes,  and 
beckoning  an  orderly,  gave  him  a  written  order,  with  which 
the  man  disappeared  into  one  of  the  rear  courts.  The  first 
captors  had  marched  off,  evidently  very  glad  to  be  quit  of 
their  detail,  and  when  the  orderly  presently  reappeared  with 
a  squad  of  six  infantrymen,  Trajan,  Philip  and  Rene  were 
left  alone  in  the  court,  the  cavalrymen  dispersed  in  chatter 
ing  groups  by  the  doorway,  watching  the  evolutions  of  the 
Amazons  in  the  "  Place." 

14  Caporal"  said  Rene,  addressing  the  leader  of  the  squad, 
"  these  are  the  suspects,  Malfoy  and  Legare,"  and  he  looked 
meaningly  at  each  prisoner  as  he  pronounced  these  names. 
"  They  are  to  be  detained  at  La  Grande  Roquette  until  their 
crimes  can  be  examined."  He  handed  the  corporal  the 
papers,  and  with  a  gleam  of  encouragement  in  his  eye  turned 
and  entered  the  bureau  again. 


TRAJAN  PL  A  YS  A  NEW  ROLE.  563 

"  What  does  this  mean  ?  "  asked  Philip,  gloomily.  "  Ro- 
quette  is  the  dfyot  des  condamnes  ;  are  we  to  be  butchered 
without  even  the  farce  of  a  trial  ? " 

"  It  is  just  to  evade  the  farce  of  a  trial  Rene  has  managed 
this  clever  device.  Don't  you  see  we  enter  the  prison  under 
names  against  which  no  one  has  made  complaint  ?  We  may 
lie  there  until  this  infernal  business  is  brought  to  an  end,  but 
the  danger  of  a  charge  against  us  is  removed.  Don't  forget, 
you  are  citizen  Malfoy  and  I  am  citizen  Legare.  What  a  trump 
the  small  Rene  is  ;  I  never  would  have  credited  him  with  so 
ready  a  resource.  By  George,  he's  worth  a  dozen  of  his 
mad-headed  compatriots.  I  despair  of  ever  comprehending 
French  character.  Here  is  this  Rene,  rattle-head,  mercurial  ; 
lazy  as  dead  water,  as  he  himself  would  put  it,  forever 
knocking  around  the  quarter,  turning  out  bits  of  color  in  a 
morning  that  would  madden  Fortuny  or  Diaz  ;  dancing  all 
night  with  fragile  camarades  at  the  Bal  Bullier,  the  most 
vehement  in  the  political  clubs,  living  only  for  pleasure. 
Yet  you  can  see  him  here  managing  this  affair  with  the  in 
spiration  and  audacity  of  a  mouchard !  " 

Philip  wasn't  in  the  mood  of  this  sort  of  abstraction,  and  the 
two  marched  rapidly,  better  protected  by  the  more  numerous 
guards.  In  the  Place  de  la  Bastille,  whose  great  octagonal 
limits  bristled  like  a  fortress,  the  sans  culottes  of  the  St. 
Antoine  quarter  were  holding  &fete.  A  group  of  wretched 
priests  were  in  the  center  of  a  ring,  baited  by  jeering  women 
and  small  boys  in  indescribable  costume.  A  burly  tambour- 
iniere,  striking  up  a  carmagnole,  the  priests  were  bidden 
to  dance.  Refusing,  the  women  darted  upon  them  with 
knives,  scissors,  bodkins — jabbing  their  bared  heads  and 
through  the  rents  of  their  torn  soutanes.  Finding  it  impos 
sible  to  move  their  tormentors  to  pity,  the  priests  fell  upon 
their  knees  resignedly,  and  clasping  their  hands  before  their 
eyes,  their  lips  could  be  seen  moving  in  prayer. 

Unmoved  by  this  saintly  resignation,  the  demi-reps  flung 
themselves  upon  them  ;  the  last  that  Trajan  saw  of  the  scene 


564  TRAJAN. 

reminding  him  of  a  sacred  Laocoon  writhing  in  the  torments 
of  a  score  of  demoniac  hydra.  Both  prisoners  shuddered  as  the 
cortege  drew  up  in  the  court  of  La  Roquette — the  de'pdt  des 
condamnes  in  time  of  order.  The  prison  is  separated  into  two 
parts  by  the  Rue  de  la  Roquette,  the  frowning  mass  on  the 
left  devoted  to  boy  convicts  and  that  on  the  right  to  those 
sentenced  to  the  guillotine,  or  the  hulks.  After  a  short  for 
mality  the  prisoners  were  received  by  the  gaoler,  Le  Fran- 
£ais,  under  their  new  names  and  marched  through  the  mas 
sive  walls  into  a  circular  court.  Here  a  group  of  turnkeys 
came  forward,  and  the  numbers  of  their  cells  being  called 
out  the  prisoners  were  marched  up  a  broad  stairway,  impen 
etrable  walls  frowning  upon  four  sides  of  them. 

At  the  top  of  the  wide  staircase  they  came  into  a  great 
corridor  with  iron  grated  cells  on  either  hand.  The 
place  was  well  lighted  from  above.  At  the  opposite 
end  a  cylinder  stairway  led  down  to  the  interior  of  a 
separate  court  where  the  condemned  were  led  to  make 
the  toilette  de  la  mort.  Most  of  the  cage-like  compart 
ments  were  already  occupied,  the  newcomers  receiving 
pitying  glances  from  hollow  eyes,  deep-set  in  pallid  faces. 
On  the  first  landing  Trajan  and  Philip  were  committed 
to  a  gray-haired,  not  unkindly  man,  who,  taking  two  keys 
from  the  board  hanging  on  the  wall,  led  his  new  guests  down 
the  passage  to  cells  23  and  25.  An  iron  bedstead  fastened 
to  the  wall,  a  single  stool  and  a  small  round  table  with  the 
surface  of  a  breakfast  tray,  were  the  only  furniture  of  the 
apartment.  Both  men  were  worn  out  and  slept  with  a  rest- 
fulness  only  known  to  the  exhausted,  for  twelve  hours. 

The  lights  were  glimmering  dimly  in  the  corridor  when 
Trajan  awoke,  puzzled  by  his  surroundings.  The  measured 
tramp  of  the  guard  brought  him  back  to  the  reality,  and  he 
started  to  count  the  chances  of  escape.  They  were  far  from 
inviting.  Deep  upon  deep  of  solid  frowning  masonry  bare  of 
iron,  nothing  in  the  remotest  degree  suggestive  of  a  tool  or 
weapon.  He  followed  the  movements  of  the  sentinel  mechan- 


TRAJAN  PLA  YS  A  NEW  ROLE.  565 

ically,  and  then  resolving  to  let  no  detail  evade  him,  gave 
his  mind  to  studying  the  internal  economy  of  the  place.  In 
the  morning  at  5:30  wine  and  bread  were  brought  in  wooden 
bowls.  At  noon  a  wholesome  broth,  with  vegetables  and  a 
morsel  of  bread.  The  guard,  he  remarked,  was  changed 
every  hour,  and  once  in  each  twelve  hours  there  was  a  sort 
of  liberation  ;  some  of  the  prisoners  marching  off  with  a 
lightness  of  step  denoting  belief  in  freedom. 

Others  were  liberated,  but  it  could  be  seen  that  none  of  the 
elation  of  hope  buoyed  their  trembling  steps,  while  muffled 
sounds  of  musketry  inside  the  walls  told  but  too  plainly  the 
liberty  that  had  been  given  them.  Even  the  poor  comfort  of 
talking  with  Philip,  save  during  the  short  liberation  of  an 
hour  each  day,  was  denied  him.  News  from  the  troubled  city 
was  vague  and  contradictory.  One  guard,  in  enthusiasm, 
would  announce  a  great  triumph  of  the  patriots  and  the  im 
mediate  capture  of  Versailles,  with  ferocious  threats  of  a 
general  massacre  to  signalize  this  crowning  evidence  of  the 
People's  prowess.  But  the  old  guardian  of  the  corridor 
passing  along  took  care  to  make  known  that  the  army  of 
MacMahon  was  girdling  the  city  closer  and  closer  and  rout 
ing  Dombrowski's  tatterdemalions  in  every  encounter. 

The  third  day  of  the  ordeal  brought  a  great  influx  to  the 
dungeons.  The  cell  of  Mazas  had  been  emptied  and  the 
unfortunate  wretches  sent  to  La  Roquette  to  be  shot  for 
communards  in  the  hands  of  the  "  bandits."  As  the  cells 
were  unequal  to  the  arrivals  the  prisoners  were,  in  some 
instances,  doubled.  Trajan,  to  whose  lot  it  fell  to  have  a 
companion  thrupt  upon  him,  asked  the  new  guard  if  he 
might  not  be  put  in  25  with  his  compatriot.  "  We  are 
Americans,"  he  said,  "  and  the  patrie  can  not  suffer  in 
gratifying  this  demand." 

"  By  Jove,"  said  a  voice  in  English.  "Americans  are  you  ; 
well,  I  thought  I  had  hard  lines,  but  I  see  I'm  in  luck.  I'll 
see  what  I  can  do." 

Gibson,  for  it  was  he,  went  to  the  person  in  command,  and 


566  TRAJAN. 

his  statement  was  listened  to  with  favor,  for  Trajan  saw  the 
old  guardian  coming  forward  with  the  new  friend.  It  was 
almost  like  liberty  to  be  with  Philip,  and  for  the  rest  of  the 
day  the  two  friends  were  content  and  even  happy.  The 
Englishman  seized  the  chance  to  tell  them  that  it  looked  bad 
for  the  commune.  MacMahon  had  carried  all  the  outer 
forts,  and  unless  very  unlucky,  must  make  a  breach  in  the 
walls  soon.  Animated  by  this  news,  at  once  good  and  bad, 
the  prisoners  almost  cheered  the  stout  Englishman,  who 
moved  off  in  great  terror.  The  next  morning  Trajan  got 
further  chance  of  talking  with  him  and  learned  of  his  encoun 
ter  with  Grovel. 

"What !     Lafayette  in  the  ranks  ?"  he  exclaimed. 

"  You  know  him  ?  "  asked  Gibson  in  delight.  "  Tell  me 
where  he  lives  ;  I  have  a  confounded  packet  for  him  that 
has  worried  my  life  out,  since  it  is  more  precious  than  gold 
to  the  family." 

Trajan  gave  him  the  address,  and  when  he  rejoined  Philip 
told  him  of  the  singular  chance  that  had  thrown  the  whilom 
companion  of  Lafayette  into  their  way.  It  was  just  after  the 
supper  had  been  served  that  a  commotion  was  heard  at  the 
end  of  the  hall.  Two  officers  with  the  broad  red  sash  of  the 
commune  were  coming  along  the  corridor  with  the  old 
guardian.  The  hearts  of  many  a  poor  wretch  sank  at  the 
sight.  To  the  horror  of  our  two  friends,  the  group  came  to 
a  halt  before  25.  The  key  grated  harshly  in  the  lock. 

"  The  citizens  Malfoy  and  Legare  will  step  forth,"  said 
one  of  the  sashed  figures.  Trajan,  who  was  nearest,  came 
out  first,  pale,  but  collected.  Philip  followed  as  firmly,  but 
not  less  pale. 

"  Citizen  patriots,"  resumed  the  red  sash,  a  boy  of  twenty- 
three  or  four,  "  I  felicitate  you.  The  member  of  the  Com 
mittee  of  Public  Safety,  Belcour,  vouches  for  your  patriotism 
and  has  laid  the  proofs  before  the  committee  that  you  are 
calumniated.  The  patrie  gives  you  liberty  and  assigns  you 
to  staff  duty  with  the  General  Roesel.  I  salute  you.  Here 


TRAJAN  PLA  YS  A  NEW  ROLE.  567 

are  your  commissions,  you  will  get  an  order  for  uniforms  at 
the  general  staff,  Place  Vendome." 

Free  !  rescued  !  Not  death,  but  life.  The  Saxons  edi 
fied  the  Gaul  by  a  simultaneous  impulse.  They  gave  each 
other  a  hug,  perhaps  as  much  to  save  the  need  of  speech  as 
to  demonstrate  their  grateful,  devout  thanksgiving.  But  in 
the  intoxication  of  this  sudden  release  they  were  betrayed 
into  a  blunder  which,  had  the  young  patriots  been  keener  or 
more  suspicious,  would  have  undone  the  fine  work  of  Rene. 
They  addressed  each  other  as  Philip  and  Trajan.  No  one 
noticed  the  exclamation  save  Gibson,  to  whom,  of  course, 
the  English  accents  were  more  intelligible  than  to  theothers. 

Trajan  was  just  about  to  thank  the  Englishman  for  his  good- 
fellowship  when  he  remembered  the  danger  and  walked  on 
with  only  a  glance  of  recognition.  Philip,  not  so  prudent, 
lingered  to  shake  his  hand,  but  instead  Gibson  slipped  the 
packet  of  letters  into  it  and  whispered  to  give  it  to  Grovel. 
None  saw  the  maneuver  but  the  eager  spectators  in 
the  cells,  and  they  were  to  be  depended  on  as  against  the 
patriots.  The  soft  April  night  was  like  May  as  the  strangely 
liberated  pair  passed  down  the  gloomy  stairs,  under  the 
frowning  granite  walls  of  the  quadrangle,  where  a  long  line 
of  miserable,  haggard  victims  stood  in  the  ordeal  they  had 
so  recently  endured.  There  was  another  embrace,  heartier 
than  the  first,  when  they  stood  on  the  dim  street,  the  high 
walls  of  the  prison  on  either  hand. 

They  had  been  ordered  to  present  themselves  at  once  in 
the  staff  office,  and  warned  that  they  were  in  danger  so  long 
as  they  were  not  uniformed.  This  they  discovered  before 
they  had  gone  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  As  they  emerged  under 
the  lights  in  the  Place  de  la  Bastille  a  demonstrative  patrol 
brought  them  to  a  halt,  and  it  was  only  upon  explaining 
their  role  and  displaying  their  commission,  printed  in 
blood-red  ink  with  a  lurid  goddess  in  the  corner,  that  they 
were  grumblingly  permitted  to  pursue  their  venturesome 
way.  They  avoided  danger  thereafter  by  walking  in  the 


568  TRAJAN: 

middle  of  the  streets,  crowded  with  picturesquely-clad  vivan- 
dieres,  soldiers  and  ragamuffins,  dancing,  shouting  and  revel 
ing  in  a  wild  orgie  of  delirious  joy — for  it  was  reported  that 
MacMahon  was  a  prisoner  and  would  be  shot  at  LaRoquette 
in  the  morning.  When  they  came  to  barricades,  of  which 
there  were  scores  in  the  Bastille  quarter,  built  with  the  sol 
idity  and  precision  of  earthworks,  they  were  obliged  to  pass 
the  guards,  but  their  red  commission  carried  them  through 
in  safety. 

In  the  Place  Vendome  they  found  Roesel,  the  new  general- 
in-chief,  a  pale,  handsome,  poet-like  lad  not  thirty.  He  was 
surrouiided  by  a  gesticulating  group  of  bedizened  person 
ages  screaming  and  imploring  instant  compliance  with  their 
demands.  One  wanted  an  order  for  re-enforcements  ;  another 
couldn't  answer  for  his  post  unless  he  had  five  thousand 
troops  ;  another  had  no  food,  the  commissariat  having  sold 
his  rations  to  the  speculators.  It  was  two  hours  before  the 
tortured  chieftain  could  look  at  the  two  strangers  assigned 
him  as  staff  officers. 

His  face  flushed  with  pleasure  as  he  saw  that  they  were  of 
a  different  stamp  from  the  wild  and  ignorant  cattle  assigned 
his  predecessor. 

"  Citizens,  I  welcome  you  with  pleasure.  It  is  no  light 
duty  devolves  upon  you.  Have  you  ever  served  before  ?  " 
Both  young  men  bowed. 

"A  la  bonne  heure — that  is  something  like  it.  Which  is 
the  citizen  Malfoy  ?  "  Philip  bowed — "  Trh  bien — citizen, 
you  shall  remount  and  direct  the  formation  of  the  cavalry  of 
which  we  are  badly  in  need,  and  you,  citizen  Le"gare — you 
shall  be  my  adjutant."  He  rang  a  bell.  An  orderly  ap 
proached  the  desk  and  the  citizen  delegate  for  war  ordered 
him  to  conduct  the  citizen  to  the  store  house,  handing  him  at 
the  same  time  a  written  order.  "  Citizen,  there  isn't  a 
moment  to  lose.  You  must  be  prepared  to  aid  me  all  night 
in  disposing  of  these  documents.  We  mean  now  to  show 
the  enemy  scientific  war." 


TRAJAN  PLA  Y3  A  NEW  R&LE.  569 

"  He's  no  fool,  that/'  said  Philip — "  if  the  commune  had 
made  use  of  such  material  from  the  first,  Thiers  would  now 
find  himself  behind  the  Loire — where,  as  it  is,  with  dun 
derheads  and  maniacs  in  control  here,  he  was  half  determ 
ined  to  go  when  the  storm  burst  in  March." 

"  Who  is  Roesel  ?  " 

"  He  is  an  ex-officer  in  the  army,  one  of  the  most  accom 
plished  graduates  of  the  Polytechnique.  Served  with  dis 
tinction  in  Algiers,  and  like  yourself  indulged  in  theories 
which  don't  work  well  in  practice." 

"  It's  not  my  theories,  oh,  graceless  Philistine,  that  are 
working  here,  but  the  perversion  of  them.  You  might  as 
well  call  the  gentle  creed  of  the  Nazarene  bloody  and  cruel 
because  of  St.  Bartholomew,  of  Alva,  of  Wallenstein,  of  the 
Thirty-Years'  war,  of  the  Inquisition,  of  deluged  England, 
as  to  say  these  maniacs,  who  borrow  the  most  generous  and 
pacific  doctrines,  represent  the  glorious  creed  of  common 
rights,  common  responsibilities,  common  destinies — for  that 
is  the  crime  of  communism." 

"  Well,  Gray,  I'm  prepared  to  take  the  doctrines  on  trust, 
but  I  decline  to  be  an  apostle." 

"  Yes,  that's  the  -pusillanimity  that  subjects  society  to 
these  shoals,  and  this  is  only  the  preliminary  one,  let  me  tell 
you — for  the  work  that  the  educated  shrink  from,  the  masses 
are  bound  to  undertake,  and  lacking  knowledge  and  har 
mony,  they  stumble  blindly,  commit  woeful  blunders,  but 
they  succeed  in  the  end — witness  the  liberty  given  the  world 
by  the  horrors  of  '93  !  " 

"  Well,  well,  have  it  so — like  Gambetta,  you  were  born  to 
die  in  the  skin  of  a  revoltce — but  I  own  that  I  am  not  easy 
in  my  mind  in  this  business.  I  am  an  aid  on  L'Admir- 
ault's  staff  and  when  the  other  side  get  the  upper  hand,  as 
they  are  bound  to,  I  shall  be  shot." 

"  You  can  readily  prove  that  you  had  no  choice — and 
then  you  may  find  a  chance  to  escape.  I  think,  we  are  the 
children  of  miracle,  as  the  Legitimists  call  the  Count  de 


57°  TRAJAN. 

Chambord,  and  for  my  part  I  never  was  so  little  disposed  to 
look  awry  at  fortune.  All  that  worries  me  now  is  to  get  a 
chance  to  send  a  message  to  the  Rue  Frangois  Premier, 
where  they  are  giving  you  up  as  dead,  I  fear." 

"  They  would  not  be  so  much  troubled  about  me,  if  they 
thought  you  safe — " 

"Oh,  Kent,  that's  not  generous — it's  damnably  cruel — you 
have  no  business  to  talk  that  way  even  in  joke,"  and  Trajan 
with  quite  unnecessary  wrath  dropped  his  companion's  arm. 

"  By  the  Lord,  Gray,  you're  a  fine  fellow — you  misappre 
hend  me.  Do  you  suppose  Elliot  can  feel  very  happy, 
knowing  that  you  gave  yourself  into  the  lion's  jaws,  just  at 
the  moment,  too,  when  he  was  acting  like  an  infernal  dunce 
and  ingrate  ?  By  heavens,  I  don't  understand  how  you 
resisted  knocking  his  stupid  head  off.-  I  should  have  done 
it.  I  couldn't  imagine  what  he  was  driving  at,  for  I  never 
understood  your  quarrel,  and  I  didn't  recall  that  he  was 
ignorant  of  the  part  you  played  in  his  escape  from  Meaux." 

"  I  didn't  have  the  slightest  disposition  to  lay  a  hand  on 
the  misguided  lad  ;  first,  because  I  love  him  ;  second,  be 
cause  some  one  else  loves  him  with  a  love  far  surpassing  the 
love  sisters  give  brothers  ;  third,  because,  though  the  voice 
was  the  voice  of  Elliot,  the  words  were  the  words  of  a 
revengeful,  heartless  woman." 

The  orderly  begged  the  citizens  to  go  to  the  depot  at  this 
point.  They  entered  a  great  magazine,  where  hundreds  of 
clerks  were  busy  filling  orders  for  raiment,  which  could 
hardly  be  called  uniforms.  Not  till  the  orderly  had  gone 
back  twice  and  finally  returned  with  a  peremptory  command 
were  the  civilians  transformed  into  such  militaires  as  we  are 
accustomed  to  see  in  the  antics  of  General  Bourn  in  the 
piebald  army  of  La  Grande  Duchesse.  The  sun  was  shin 
ing  into  the  litter  of  the  headquarters,  revealing  a  scene  of 
characteristic  disorder,  when  the  young  general,  dead  tired, 
bade  his  aids  seek  a  few  hours  rest  and  be  with  him  at  ten 
o'clock.  But  there  was  no  rest  for  the  overjoyed  aids. 


IN  THE  L  ION'S  MO  UTff.  571 

In  ten  minutes  they  were  hurrying  across  the  Place  de  la 
Concorde — a  scene  of  wreck  and  destruction — towards  the 
stately  alles  of  the  Champs  Elysees  a-bloom  in  early  May, 
green,  musical  with  the  chirp  of  the  robins,  and  tranquil 
as  the  river  that  flowed  from  the  shambles  above  to  the 
shambles  below.  At  last,  with  an  eagerness  that  almost 
stopped  the  beating  of  their  hearts  they  stood  before  the 
heavy  doors  guarding  all  they  both  loved  best  in  the  world. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

IN     THE     LION'S     MOUTH. 

ELLIOT  set  about  his  campaign  with  all  the  attention 
to  detail  that  marks  the  inspired  amateur  in  the  serious 
affairs  of  life.  Since  he  was  no  longer  Arden,  his  first 
sagacious  move,  as  I  have  said,  was  to  color  his  blonde  pate 
a  dingy  black.  His  skin  even  was  darkened,  and  when  he 
appeared  before  his  solicitous  conspirators,  they  owned 
that  he  never  would  be  identified  as  the  glorious  Saxon 
the  world  knew  him.  He  proposed,  first  of  all,  finding  the 
whereabouts  of  the  prisoners  and  then,  if  he  could  not 
invoke  the  interposition  of  some  of  Trajan's  old  club 
friends  in  the  quarter,  compel  the  aid  of  the  United 
States  minister.  If  all  else  failed,  he  would  go  before 
the  Executive  Committee  with  the  minister  and  avow  the 
substitution  of  Gray  for  himself.  This  last  resolution,  how 
ever,  he  did  not  confide  to  the  other  plotters,  who  staked  all 
on  his  persuasive  powers  with  the  Draconian  Committee. 

But  before  he  had  taken  a  step  in  this  promising  programme 
an  ominous  event  happened.  "  He  had  received  a  letter  from 
an  unknown  (to  him)  citoyen,  signed  Celeste  Voyon,  in  which 
this  patriot  informed  him  that,  as  soon  as  her  duties  in  the 
field  gave  her  the  leisure,  she  would  do  herself  the  honor  to 
call  and  make  him  acquainted  with  a  matter  of  the  first  im- 


57*  TRAJAN*. 

portance  to  his  family.  He  had  heedlessly  signed  the 
receipt  for  the  letter  and  thereby  given  his  identity  into  the 
hands  of  one  of  the  children  of  the  People.  What  was  to  be 
done  ? 

The  next  morning  Elliot  set  out,  cautioning  the  anxious 
family  to  have  no  fears  if  he  did  not  return  at  night  ;  per 
haps,  indeed,  he  might  be  forced  to  remain  away  several 
days,  as  he  was  going  to  persist,  by  himself,  if  the  minister 
had  not  traced  the  victims.  At  the  legation  he  was  solemnly 
assured  that  no  prisoners  Kent  or  Arden  were  in  possession 
of  the  commune.  Knowing  the  impossibility  of  the  French 
to  pronounce  Saxon  names,  agents  had  been  sent  to  the 
prisons  where  all  suspects,  or  hostages,  were  confined,  but 
no  names,  even  remotely  resembling  those  he  sought,  were 
to  be  found. 

They  must  either  have  escaped  en  route  the  day  of 
their  arrest,  or  they  were  dead.  This  was  the  conclu 
sion  of  the  official,  to  whom  Elliot  had  given  carte  blanche 
as  to  funds  in  tracing  his  friends.  His  high  hopes  were 
dashed,  for,  like  impulsive  natures,  the  rebound  from  hope 
carried  him  far  from  the  alternative  of  escape  suggested 
by  the  official.  What  should  he  do  now  ?  he  asked  himself 
despairingly.  Sullenly  resolved  to  keep  away  from  home 
until  the  worst  or  best  was  known,  he  drove  to  the  prison 
Mazas.  Naturally,  without  an  order  of  any  kind,  he  was 
refused  admission.  Hurrying  back  to  the  legation  he  got  a 
letter  to  Raoul  Rigault,  the  head  of  the  Safety  Committee 
and  chief  of  police,  made  out  in  the  name  of  Trajan — re 
solved  that,  if  he  found  him,  he  would  give  him  the  order  and 
let  him  pass  out,  risking  his  chance  to  liberate  himself  and 
Philip.  Absolutely,  the  madness  in  the  air  from  which  no 
one  in  the  city  seems  to  have  been  preserved  during  those 
nine  crazy,  tumultuous  weeks — possessed  him.  The  absurd 
ity  of  his  scheme  never  even  suggested  itself  to  him  as  he 
tore  off  like  a  maniac  to  thrust  his  head  into  the  jaws  of  the 
wild  beast,  that  no  one  came  near  during  the  horrid  revel 


IN  THE  LION'S  MOUTH.  573 

without  losing  blood  or  head.  It  was  late  in  the  afternoon, 
when  he  at  last  got  track  of  the  "  Delegate  of  Public  Safety  " 
as  the  arch-butcher  in  the  tragedy  was  magniloquently 
styled  in  the  flamboyant  literature  of  this  saturnalia. 

His  headquarters  were  in  the  long  low  range  of  medieval 
gables  which  used  to  be  the  wonder  and  delight  of  the  medi 
tative  sightseer  on  the  banks  of  the  Seine.  Elliot  could  hardly 
reconcile  this  peaceful  bit  of  Nuremburg-like  gables  and 
flying  dormers  with  the  bloody  lair  of  the  chief  of  the  assas 
sins.  After  a  moment's  wait,  the  messenger  who  had  taken 
his  letter  beckoned  him  to  follow,  and,  entering  a  vestibule 
crowded  with  tearful  expectants,  he  was  led  past  them  all 
into  an  inner  department  where  two  boyish-looking  men  sat 
noting  names  on  a  list. 

They  were  clad  in  the  impossible  costumes  that  enlivened 
the  streets,  with  an  extra  breadth  of  red  in  the  civic  sash, 
denoting  their  rank.  Neither  was  more  than  twenty-five — 
thoroughly  French — of  the  boulevardier-Bohemian  type, 
dark  hair,  pale  to  sickliness,  and  the  pince-nez,  or  spec 
tacles,  lending  a  student  look  to  countenances  whose  ex 
pression  did  not  belie  the  incredible  ferocity  of  their 
natures.  The  elder  of  the  two,  though  there  was  only  a 
year's  difference  in  age,  was  Raoul  Rigault  ;  the  younger 
was  Theophile  Ferre,  his  ultimate  and  appropriate  successor 
in  the  Walpurgis  night  of  massacre  that  ended  the  com 
mune.  Both  looked  up  as  the  orderly,  showing  Elliot  in, 
withdrew. 

"  I  thought  Gray  was  sent  for,"  said  Ferre,  looking  over 
his  shoulder  at  Elliot. 

"  So  he  was — that  imbecile  hasn't  sense  enough  to  pluck  a 
thistle,"  and  Rigault  touched  a  bell  sharply,  paying  no  more 
attention  to  the  presence  of  Elliot  than  if  he  had  been  a  chair 
set  down  in  the  room. 

"  Gregoire,  you  are  intolerable  ;  it  was  the  person  who 
gave  this  letter  I  ordered  you  to  bring — the  citizen  Gray — 
where  is  he?  Let  this  man  wait  and  bring  him  to  me." 


574  TRAJAN. 

"  But,  Citizen  Delegate,  this  is  the  man  who  gave  the 
letter  ;  see,  here  is  his  number  and  the  time  he  entered," 
and  the  man  took  the  card  from  Elliot's  trembling  hand. 

Ferre  had  gotten  up  and  was  staring  at  the  confounded 
victim  of  his  own  rashness. 

"  You  are  not  the  citizen  Gray.  I  know  him  very  well  ; 
we  belonged  to  the  same  club.  What  is  the  meaning  of 
this  masquerade  ?  " 

"  Yes,  young  man  ;  what  is  the  meaning  of  this  imposi 
tion — explain  and  be  brief." 

Elliot  saw  that  he  was  lost.  But  he  could  still  save  Tra 
jan.  The  thought  restored  all  his  serenity.  He  was  not  after 
all  to  be  unworthy  of  some  of  that  adoration  Bella  had  so 
glowingly  avowed  for  the  captive.  He  told  the  story  in  a  few 
words.  Describing  Trajan's  substitution  and  his  own  desire 
to  prevent  it,  with  the  obstacles  thrown  in  his  way  by  his 
mother  and  sister.  The  two  listened  without  a  scintilla  of 
emotion  in  their  contemptuously  malevolent  faces. 

"  A  charming  feullleton  indeed,  citoyen  spy — we  have 
seen  numbers  like  you." 

"  But  you  can  prove  it  by  the  guards — 

"  I  don't  need  to  be  instructed  in  my  duty  to  the  pa- 
trie  r 

He  touched  the  bell. 

When  Gregoire  appeared  he  nodded  toward  Elliot.  Em 
ploying  four  terrible  and  decisive  words,  "  La  Roquette,  spy, 
confessed." 

It  was  with  something  of  a  sense  of  triumph  the  luckless 
victim  fell  in  between  the  guards  that  were  to  conduct  him 
to  the  prison  that  he  knew  was  to  be  his  death.  He  knew  it 
as  well  as  if  the  guns  were  pointed  at  him. 

As  the  heavy  vehicle  rolled  along  the  quiet  waters  of  the 
Seine  to  the  bridge  of  Sebastopol,  he  remembered  his  past 
life  in  the  rollicking  quarter  beyond  ;  he  thought  of  the 
meeting  in  the  Luxembourg  Garden  and  the  strange  chaos 
of  .events  which  had  made  Trajan  twice  his  saviour  and  now 


IN  THE  LION'S  MOUTH.  575 

by  his  own  imprudence  his  executioner.  Two  hours  after 
Trajan  and  Philip  quit  cell  25,  Elliot  entered  it — fate  has  at 
last  played  its  most  fantastic  freak,  let  us  hope  ! 

Early  as  it  was  on  that  glorious  May  morning,  Bella  and 
her  mother  heard  the  untimely  ring  and  were  waiting  inside 
the  door  for — Elliot.  But  when  Philip  and  Trajan  burst  in, 
there  was  such  a  clamor  of  joy  as  speedily  brought  the 
whole  family  to  the  spot.  Somebody's  cheeks  were  a  per 
fect  garden  of  roses  and  her  eyes  two  sparkling  Kohinoors. 

"  But  where  is  Elliot  ?  "  asked  Bella. 

"  Isn't  he  here  ? "  exclaimed  both  the  young  men  in  a 
breath. 

When  it  was  explained  that  he  had  gone  out  the  morning 
before,  not  to  return  unless  accompanied  by  the  prisoners, 
Trajan  sank  helplessly  into  a  seat,  looking  at  Philip  in  con 
sternation. 

"  He  told  me  not  to  be  alarmed  in  case  he  did  not  return 
for  one,  two,  three  days,"  said  Bella,  trying  to  appear  con 
fident. 

Trajan  avoided  the  glance  fixed  upon  him  by  mother  and 
cousin,  but  he  could  not  deceive  these  penetrating  eyes. 
They  saw  his  alarm  and  shared  it. 

"  Where  did  he  go  first  ? "  he  asked  quietly. 

"  To  the  Legation." 

"  Philip,  you  wait  here  ;  I'll  be  back  in  an  hour."  His 
worst  fears  were  confirmed  when  he  heard  of  the  letter,  and 
the  madness  of  using  his  own  name.  Hurrying  back  to  the 
Rue  Frangois  Premier,  he  assumed  a  confidence  he  was  far 
from  feeling  ;  and  announced  that  he  had  gained  a  clue — all 
would  yet  be  well.  Under  pretext  of  their  duty  with  the 
general,  Philip,  on  a  signal  from  Trajan,  hurried  with  him 
from  the  saddened  circle,  and  as  they  reached  the  street  he 
said  : 

"  I'm  afraid  Elliot  has  done  a  fatal  thing.  Rigault,  to 
whom  he  took  a  letter,  knows  me.  If  he  didn't,  his  familiar 
Ferre  does.  He  hates  me  because  I  reprimanded  some 


576  TRAJAN. 

dishonesties  he  practiced  with  the  funds  of  the  club.  Now 
we  must  manage  to  find  out  what  has  happened.  We  can  do 
this  at  the  headquarters,  by  sending  an  orderly  to  look  over 
the  list  of  prisoners  sent  from  the  prefecture  yesterday." 

Before  ten  o'clock  they  had  found  out  the  frightful  trap 
into  which  the  poor  boy  had  fallen. 

"  Our  only  hope  now  is  to  get  an  immediate  order  from 
Roesel  fixing  a  trial.  Then  delay  under  some  other  pretext 
until  the  commune  falls,  or  we  can  invent  a  rescue.  I  own 
that  I'm  not  sanguine,  Ferre  being  in  the  affair.  Roesel  is 
kind-hearted,  and  will  not  refuse  delay.  He  dare  not  do 
more." 

Trajan  was  over-confident  in  counting  Roesel  kind.  He 
was  the  incarnation  of  ferocity.  It  was  his  hand  that  had 
drawn  up  the  most  vengeful  parts  of  the  bloody  code,  wast 
ing  the  populace  of  the  terrified  city.  But  he  had  a  fantastic 
sort  of  justice,  and  he  readily  gave  the  order  to  bring  Elliot 
to  trial,  and  promised  to  permit  one  of  his  friends  to  testify, 
but  he  warned  them  to  expect  no  mercy.  The  patriots  were 
aroused,  and  he  quite  approved  of  their  determination  to 
make  the  shortest  sort  of  work  with  the  suspects,  without 
whom  the  Versaillaise  couldn't  have  maintained  the  contest 
a  week.  But  this  was  something  to  enable  Philip  to  comfort 
the  despairing,  and  he  set  off  at  once  to  give  them  such  solace 
as  it  suggested.  Here  he  found  direful  confusion.  The 
great  hall  on  the  street  floor  was  transformed  into  a  gipsy 
camp.  A  squad  of  twenty  or  more  Amazons  had  taken 
possession  of  the  place.  The  concierge,  shrieking  and  sup 
plicating,  stood  inside  the  glass  door  of  her  little  sitting" 
room  praying  the  bonnes  et  cheres  citoyennes  to  liberate 
her,  that  she  was  the  best  of  patriots  ;  that  her  son  was 
marechel  des  logis  in  the  Spartan  band  of  Paris  avengers.  Nor 
did  Philip's  sudden  entrance  quell  the  tumult.  Costumes 
were  so  varied,  each  patriot  assuming  any  stage  rag  he  was 
minded  to,  that  the  modest  gray  of  the  staff  did  not  carry 
much  weight 


IN  THE  L  ION' S  MO  U  TH.  577 

"What  is  the  meaning  of  this  meleel"  Philip  asked, 
as  he  pushed  through  the  chattering  dames,  beplumed  and 
armed  to  the  teeth. 

Through  the  confusion  he  couldn't  catch  a  word  of  the 
concierge  s  answer,  but  her  frantic  wave  of  the  hand  toward 
the.  rooms  above  sent  him  bounding  up  stairs  like  a  shot, 
knocking  the  astonished  patriots  right  and  left  in  his  violent 
onset.  In  the  vestibule  were  a  terrified  and  threatening  group. 
The  gay  Celeste,  her  arms  working  wildly,  and  chattering 
with  the  volubility  possible  only  to  a  French  woman  who 
knows  she  has  the  advantage,  with  her  admiring  lover  look 
ing  on,  Kate  holding  the  door  to  the  salon  and  Bella  con 
fronting  the  virago. 

"  It  was  a  villainy,  it  was  a  canaillerie  to  deceive  her  as  the 
.  Citizen  Arden  had  done.  Unless  the  check  were  instantly 
exchanged  for  money  the  brave  women  of  the  Amazons 
would  make  its  value  good  in  the  belongings  of  the  apart 
ment.  You  are  all  dishonest,  you  Americans  ;  you  have 
ruined  Paris  by  making  it  cost  so  much  that  its  own  citizens 
can  not  exist,  and  you  turn  a  poor  girl  to  madness  bf  a  pre 
tended  munificence  that  proves  a  fraud  ;  you  are — " 

"  What  do  you  want,  woman — how  dare  you  come  here  ?  " 
and  Philip,  whose  entrance  the  demi-rep  had  not  seen,  caught 
her  by  the  shoulder  and  gave  her  a  whirl  hallward  that 
would  have  sent  her  sprawling  had  the  agile  Auguste  not 
caught  her.  In  an  instant  her  carbine  was  unslung,  and 
she  turned  with  a  hoarse  screech  of  rage  to  confront  her 
audacious  assailant.  But  Philip's  uniform  checked  her  mar 
tial  fury.  Her  insolence  vanished  as  she  recognized  the 
sash  of  the  superior  hierarchy  of  the  commune,  and  she 
vociferated  confusedly  : 

"  It  is  a  joke,  you  know.  These  Pekins  tried  to  trick  us 
out  of  money  due  us,  and  we  were  playing  a  little  comedy 
to  them." 

"Citizen  soldier,"  said  Philip  sternly,  "disarm  that  thief 
and  take  her  to  St,  Pelagic.     I  will  send  the  charges.     Re- 
37 


578  TRAJAN. 

port  to  the  Delegate  for  War,  General  Roesel,  Place  Ven- 
dome." 

Celeste  was  now  thoroughly  frightened,  for  she  knew  that 
the  small  ceremony  the  patrie  showed  the  helpless,  was  ready 
for  its  own  culprits.  She  fell  on  her  knees  protesting  her 
innocence.  She  implored  Kate  to  intercede  for  her ;  she 
crawled  to  Bella  and  arrested  her  frightened  movement  in 
retreat  by  clutching  her  skirt,  in  the  abandonment  of  her 
fear. 

"  Citizen  soldier,  do  you  mean  to  obey,  or  shall  I  send 
for  a  platoon  to  have  you  shot  on  the  spot  for  insubordina 
tion  ?  " 

Auguste  turned  livid  ;  he  knew  that  the  words  were  no 
idle  menace.  He  had  seen  his  comrades  shot  down  in  the 
open  street  for  resisting  or  refusing  to  obey  the  decisive 
young  chief  who  had  now  assumed  charge  of  the  commune 
war.  He  looked  sulkily  at  the  officer,  who  stood  writing 
the  charge  in  his  note-book.  When  it  was  finished  he  held 
it  towards  the  soldier.  Auguste  took  it,  but  unable  to  read, 
handec^it  to  his  mistress,  who  had  risen  to  her  feet  and  was 
bewailing  her  fate  in  gulps  and  screeches.  When  her 
eyes  took  note  of  the  charge,  written  in  the  significant 
phraseology  of  the  new  order  of  things,  she  fell  upon  the 
floor  in  convulsions. 

"Come,"  said  Philip,  "lay  down  your  arms  and  march." 

Celeste  was  bunglingly  stripped  of  her  carbine,  pistols 
and  dagger,  and  under  the  support  of  Auguste  staggered 
into  the  hall.  Philip  followed  to  the  foot  of  the  stairs.  The 
astonished  Amazons  came  in  a  noisy  swoop  about  the 
group,  enraged  but  cowed. 

"  Citoyennes,  you  have  laid  yourselves  liable  to  the  tenth 
article  of  the  people's  decree.  You  have  been  caught  pil 
laging  the  domicile  of  a  citizen  ;  the  penalty  is  death.  You 
will  march  to  your  quarters  and  await  the  justice  of  the 
Committee  of  Safety." 

There  wasn't  a  woman  among  them  that  had  not  heard  of 


IN  THE  LION'S  MOUTH.  579 

the  summary  methods  of  this  bloody  tribunal,  and  in  an 
instant  there  was  a  dispersion  that  from  that  day  forth 
robbed  the  patrie  of  the  arms  of  these  stout  defenders — as 
Philip  foresaw  that  it  would. 

"What  on  earth  did  the  creature  mean?"  he  asked, 
returning  to  the  apartment. 

"  Elliot  gave  her  a  check  for  two  thousand  francs,  pay 
able  after  the  peace,  whenever  it  comes,"  explained  Bella. 
"  She  took  it  to  the  American  banker,  though  it  is  drawn  on 
Rothschild.  The  banker  informed  her  that  it  was  waste 
paper,  and  she  declared,  showed  letters  from  a  London 
correspondent  proving  that  Aunt  Arden's  fortune  had 
been  swept  away  by  failures  and  depression  of  stocks  in 
America.  I  don't  know  what  to  make  of  it.  We  are  no 
sooner  clear  of  one  calamity  than  another  falls  upon  us. 
If  aunty's  fortune  is  gone,  ours,  I  suppose,  is  lost  too,  as 
both  were  in  the  hands  of  the  same  agents." 

Philip  turned  ghastly.  Cramped  for  means,  Elliot's 
plight  became  worse  than  ever.  His  own  fortune,  too,  was 
very  likely  involved.  He  must  go  at  once  and  learn  the 
worst.  As  he  announced  this  purpose  Kate,  who  had  been 
moving  about  restlessly,  beckoned  to  him  to  go  with  her. 
Wondering  what  new  calamity  impended,  he  followed  her 
passively  into  the  library.  She  shut  the  door  carefully,  and 
coming  over  very  close  to  him  broke  out  in  a  guilty  whisper 
of  rage  and  contrition  : 

"  An'  this  is  my  doin'.  I  was  afeard  Bella  would  be  daz 
zled  by  that  prince  body,  or  that  Jezebel's  brother  would 
prevail  with  her,  and  when  I  was  in  London  I  just  cal- 
logued  wi'  my  banker  to  send  the  rumor  here,  to  that  Rue 
Scribe  fellow,  that  the  Arden  and  Briscoe  fortunes  were  lost. 
I  thought  it  would  shut  us  from  the  untoward  thing  that 
threatened,  but  it  has  worked  sore  mischief,  I'm  afeard." 

Philip  laughed.  A  great  burden  had  been  lifted  from 
him. 

"  It  will  be  a  lesson  for  you,  Kate  dear,  not  to  wage  tricks 


580  TRAJAN. 

with  Theo.  She  is  more  than  a  match  for  you,  or  the  whole 
of  us  together.  However,  there  is  no  great  harm  done. 
The  effect  will  be  only  temporary.  It  will  cripple  us  in  funds 
and  perhaps  compel  my  aunt  to  leave  this  costly  apartment." 

He  would  not  add  to  the  poor  spinster's  wretchedness  by 
hinting  that  the  lack  of  money  might  destroy  the  last  chance 
to  rescue  Elliot.  He  had  learned  of  the  traffic  going  on  among 
the  officials  of  the  Committee,  the  buying  off  of  con 
demned  hostages  for  round  sums  of  money,  and  from  the 
first  he  had  looked  with  something  like  confidence  to  this 
dangerous  resource.  At  the  Rue  Scribe  the  tale  was  not 
only  confirmed,  but  so  well  had  Kate's  agent  obeyed  his 
instructions,  all  the  fortunes  of  the  family  were  represented 
as  ruined,  Philip  sharing  in  the  disaster.  The  wily  banker, 
who  had  bent  double  before  the  rich  Arden  family  in  other 
days,  could  hardly  find  time  to  tell  the  story,  and  dismissed 
the  young  man  as  if  he  had  been  a  porter.  The  Ardens 
had  done  him  the  double  wrong  of  banking  with  a  Parisian 
house,  and  civilly  declining  the  profuse  hospitalities  of  his 
toady  table  in  the  prince's  quarter  of  the  city.  He  had  been 
many  years  building  up  a  certain  prestige  in  the  nomad 
society  of  the  capital  and  he  had  a  long  memory  for  the 
Americans  venturesome  enough  to  dispute  the  pas  with  him. 

The  Ardens  had  not  disputed  it  ;  they  had  simply  ignored 
the  pretensions  of  their  compatriot.  Neither  his  manners,  nor 
his  whimsical  affectation  of  aesthetic  culture  and  Mecaenas 
patronage  of  the  art  celebrities  of  the  day  attracted  them 
to  his  politic  salons.  He  took  good  care  to  make  known 
the  humiliation  of  the  arrogant  family,  and  though  society 
no  longer  existed  there  was  not  an  American  in  the  city 
who  had  not  heard  the  news  before  it  had  been  known  two 
days  in  the  Rue  Scribe  in  official  shape.  Trajan  did  not 
regard  the  matter  so  seriously.  He  had  been  gathering  all 
accessible  information  about  the  course  that  the  Committee 
of  Safety  was  to  take  with  Elliot.  He  was  to  be  given  a 
hearing  two  days  later.  By  a  disheartening  stroke  of  ill 


IN  THE  LION'S  MOUTH.  581 

luck  Trajan  was  sent  to  Fort  Issy,  then  in  the  last  throes  of 
resistance.  Roesel  himself  conducted  the  first  part  of  the 
operations  and  only  waited  the  assembling  of  a  force  of 
twelve  thousand  men  to  turn  the  defense  into  a  sortie. 

His  genius  for  war  might  have  worked  the  miracle  looked 
for  by  the  absurd  incapables  of  the  Central  Committee,  but 
with  the  bungling  and  confusion  that  marked  their  hideous 
travesty,  only  seven  thousand  men  appeared  to  undertake 
the  decisive  action.  But  the  delay  had  kept  Trajan  a  week 
from  the  Rue  Vendome,  whence  he  had  received  word 
that  Elliot  had  been  brought  before  Ferre,  that  he  had 
demanded  an  instant  sentence  of  death,  but  on  a  vote  of 
two  to  his  one  he  had  been  remanded  as  "  suspect  "  to  be 
kept  in  La  Roquette,  to  be  shot  in  his  turn,  to  avenge  exe 
cutions  certified  from  Versailles.  Trajan  learned  further 
more  that  Roesel  had  resigned,  and  sure  enough,  when  the 
discomfited  delegate  for  war  returned  to  the  Place  Ven 
dome  his  successor,  Dombrowski,  was  waiting  to  take  his 
place.  Dombrowski  was  a  Pole,  a  man  of  fine  presence  and 
a  very  capable  officer.  He  saluted  his  predecessor,  who 
might  have  been  his  son,  and  asked  politely  what  his 
address  would  be  ? 

"  The  prison  Mazas,"  responded  Roesel  quietly,  and 
recommending  his  aids  to  the  new  delegate,  he  shook  hands 
cordially  with  all  present,  and  requesting  Dombrowski  to 
sign  his  commitment,  placed  himself  at  the  disposal  of  the 
guard  and  withdrew  as  composedly  as  though  setting  out  to 
breakfast !  It  was  his  own  decree  he  was  obeying,  for  his 
was  the  hand  that  had  drawn  up  the  law  condemning  unsuc 
cessful  generals  to  prison,  and  if  inefficiency  could  be 
proven,  death.  From  his  cell  in  Mazas  Paris  read  the  next 
day  in  the  newspapers  his  excoriation  of  the  greed,  ignor 
ance  and  helplessness  of  the  commune,  and  when  he  died 
a  few  days  after  by  his  own  resolute  hand,  it  was  suspected 
that  his  fellow  conspirators  had  made  way  with  him. 

Roesel's  taking  off  made   a  change  for  the  worse  in  the 


582  TRAJAN. 

fortunes  of  his  two  aids.  Dombrowski,  who  was  venal  as 
he  was  adroit,  had  tools  of  his  own  that  he  wanted  near 
him.  The  young  men  were  curtly  relegated  to  the  ranks  of 
a  regiment  known  as  Avengers  of  Flourens,  and  directed  to 
report  at  once  for  duty.  They  found  the  rendezvous  in  the 
Caserne  Chateau  d'Eau,  and  to  Trajan's  great  relief,  not  far 
from  La  Roquette.  They  were  received  with  fraternal 
embraces  and  given  an  order  for  the  Avengers'  uniform, 
which  they  had  to  walk  three  miles  to  obtain  in  the  depot 
of  clothing,  Quai  d'Orsay.  The  dress  threw  the  two  con 
scripts  into  an  unseemly  merriment,  that  would  have  gone 
hard  with  them  had  the  patriots  suspected  the  cause  of  their 
levity.  It  gave  them  the  appearance  of  the  huzzars  we  see 
in  provincial  opera  troups,  and  Philip  shook  with  laughter 
till  tears  filled  his  eyes  at  the  ludicrous  spectacle  Trajan 
presented,  with  a  dark  blue  jacket  profusely  frogged 
with  red,  overalls  of  fiery  red,  like  the  regular  army  trowsers, 
a  kepi  of  red,  a  long  cutlass-like  sword,  a  carbine  and  revol 
vers,  for  they  had  been  ordered  to  serve  mounted,  so  soon 
as  it  was  known  that  they  were  Saxons,  who  were  all  sup 
posed  to  ride,  while  few  Frenchmen  are  masters  of  that 
hardy  exercise. 

The  routine  of  the  barracks  was  re'veil  at  half-past  four 
in  the  morning,  horse-cleaning  at  five,  roll-call  at  seven,  and 
breakfast  at  nine.  But  though  these  were  the  regulations 
they  found  that  no  one  lived  up  to  them.  In  spite  of  very 
severe  penalties  prescribed  the  men  went  and  came  as  they 
pleased,  those  living  in  Paris  going  home  to  sleep  on  com 
fortable  beds  at  night,  instead  of  the  wisps  of  straw  on  the 
barrack  bunks.  The  latitude  was  soon  understood  by 
Philip  and  Elliot,  and  during  the  detention  here  one  or  the 
other  spent  four  or  five  hours  out  of  each  twenty-four  in  the 
Rue  Fran£ois  Premier.  The  collapse  of  the  wild  struggle 
was  now  in  every  body's  mind,  and  had  the  Thiers  cabinet 
acted  humanely,  or  even  with  politic  prudence,  the  great 
city  would  have  been  spared  the  final  awful  convulsion  of 


IN  THE  LION'S  MOUTH.  583 

fire  and  massacre.  The  adherents  of  the  mad  rulers  were 
falling  away,  gorged  with  plunder,  secreting  themselves  in 
every  quarter. 

Desperation  alone  chained  the  fighting  mobs  to  the 
jolting  car  of  destruction.  On  the  night  of  Saturday, 
May  2oth,  bedlam  turned  to  Pandemonium.  The  streets 
swarmed  with  drunken  men  and  maniacal  women.  The  cry 
of  reaclionnaire  was  heard  in  stertorous  breathings  on  every 
side.  The  luckless  wretch  caught  in  the  street  without 
uniform  or  letters  patent  of  loyalty,  made  swift  acquaintance 
with  the  chassepot  or  the  lanterne.  Monday,  May  22d,  it 
was  known  that  MacMahon  had  carried  the  walls  on  the 
south  west,  and  that  his  army  was  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne. 
Then  the  carnival  of  despair  and  extremity  set  in. 

All  the  murder,  pillage,  lawlessness  that  had  gone  before 
were  mere  grotesque  specters  of  terror,  compared  to  the 
horrors  on  horrors'  head  ghastly  piled  during  the  stupendous 
frenzy  of  the  days  that  were  come.  All  the  barracks  in  the 
center  of  the  city  were  emptied  and  the  pallid  conscripts 
hurried  to  the  entrenched  fortress  formed  by  the  barricades 
in  the  Place  de  la  Bastille.  It  was  noon  and  the  May  sun  hot 
as  August,  scorched  the  nondescript  warriors  swarming  in 
the  disorderly  inclosure.  Long  lines  of  victims  came  con 
stantly  up  from  the  lower  prisons.  Priests  predominated, 
and  the  sight  of  them  kindled  the  dying  fury  of  the  patriots. 

As  Trajan  lay  baking  in  the  sun  under  the  column  of  July, 
girdled  far  up  to  the  crown  in  broad  red  bands,  a  melancholy 
procession  entered  from  the  Boulevard  Chateau  d'Eau  ; 
fifteen  hundred  suspects  from  the  prisons  of  the  outer 
boulevards.  Whenever  priests  were  discovered  the  women  set 
upon  them,  tearing  off  their  broad  hats  and  using  them  as 
clouts  to  beat  them  in  the  face.  Their  soutanes  were  torn 
off  bodily  and  made  into  strips  to  tie  the  helpless  groups 
two  by  two.  The  obscenity  and  curses  of  these  unsexed 
monsters  shamed  the  very  men  at  work  with  them.  All  the 
afternoon  this  hideous  work  went  on.  In  the  cool  of  the 


584  TRAJAN. 

evening  a  horrifying  clamor  was  heard  outside  the  barri 
cades.  Streams  of  women,  disheveled  and  bloody,  came 
pouring  in.  Indescribable  outbreak  filled  the  air.  A  group 
of  six  or  eight  persons,  mostly  in  clerical  garb,  were  hustled 
along,  the  feeble  guard,  even  if  disposed,  unable  to  give 
them  protection. 

"  It  is  the  bandit  Darboy,  late  archbishop  of  the  so-called 
God,  who  thought  to  starve  the  people  by  hiding  millions 
worth  of  stores  from  the  commune.  He  will  need  no  food 
when  the  patrie  has  done  with  him."  This  was  said  at 
Trajan's  elbow  by  a  gentle  boyish-looking  patriot,  who 
passed  most  of  the  day  playing  ecarte.  Rising  and  pressing 
forward  to  witness  this  impious  comedy  Trajan  was  carried 
to  the  La  Roquette  barrier.  The  crowd  pressing  fiercely 
trampled  down  one  of  the  guards,  and  Trajan  quickly 
seizing  the  chance  snatched  the  falling  musket  and  placed 
himself  with  the  maltreated  group.  He  could  do  little  to 
protect  the  venerable  bishop,  but  by  good  natured  banter 
set  those  nearest  laughing,  and  when  a  Paris  crowd  laughs 
the  mischief  is  over.  The  miserable  train  proceeded  com 
paratively  unmolested  to  the  somber  entrance  of  La  Ro 
quette. 

Trajan  as  guard  accompanied  the  priests  into  the  well- 
remembered  court,  up  the  great  stairway,  and  was  the  last 
to  whisper  a  word  of  comfort  to  the  dazed  archbishop 
as  the  door  of  cell  nineteen  clanged  into  its  socket,  like 
the  report  of  the  muskets  there  to  open  the  door  of  another 
life  a  few  days  later.  Deeply  as  he  was  touched  by  the 
prelate's  agony,  Trajan's  feverish  body  was  all  a-tremble  to 
catch  a  glimpse  of  the  imprisoned  Elliot. 

The  very  first  face  his  startled  eye  rested  on  was  the  one 
he  was  in  search  of.  He  had  turned  mechanically  to  cell 
25,  where  he  had  endured  the  horror  of  suspense  with  Philip. 
There  stood  Elliot  gazing  with  pensive  sympathy  at  the 
bars  inclosing  the  archbishop.  Even  had  he  not  heard  of 
Elliot's  disguise,  Trajan  would  have  recognized  the  lustrous 


IN  THE  LION'S  MOUTH.  585 

blue  eyes,  the  round  winning  mouth,  the  charming  profile. 
Elliot  glanced  at  him,  but  disguised  in  the  motley  of  the 
"  Avengers  "  discovered  nothing  familiar  in  the  other.  En 
couraged  by  the  success  of  his  scheme  .thus  far,  Trajan 
.went  below  with  his  fellow  guards,  to  gain  all  the  points 
possible  as  to  the  resources  for  concealment  on  the  ground 
floor.  He  could  get  no  opportunity  to  inspect  the  strongly 
barred  portals,  or  follow  the  windings  of  the  circular  pas 
sage  that  ran  like  a  great  cavern  between  the  body  of  the 
prison  and  its  circumvallating  walls.  No  hope  of  breaking 
through  or  in  any  manner  whatever  puncturing  these  mas 
sive  bulwarks. 

Rescued  Elliot  must  be,  and  that  night,  for  death  was  not 
only  on  the  lips  of  the  drunken  mob,  but  its  sinister  shadow 
stood  out  in  the  preparations  he  had  noted  in  the  court. 
The  "Attila  hordes  of  Thiers,"  might  reach  the  place  now 
any  hour  and  they  must  meet  the  weltering  bodies  of  their 
allies  !  In  his  character  of  guard,  Trajan  had  the  run  of  the 
place — such  a  thing  as  discipline  being  long  since  dismissed. 
Crowds  of  ranting  patriots  piled  up  the  stairs  for  a  last  sight 
and  last  count,  to  the  group  of  notables  that  were  to  die  with 
the  archbishop.  The  poor  old  man  was  discovered  talking 
with  the  Chief  Justice  Bonjean,  through  the  narrow  interstice 
in  the  end  of  his  cell  where  the  division  wall,  reaching  the 
window,  left  space  enough  for  the  unhappy  prisoners  to 
touch  hands  as  well  as  talk.  A  great  cry  was  raised,  the 
turnkey  was  called  and  the  archbishop  hustled  out  and  thrust 
into  cell  23  where  Trajan  had  been  lodged.  The  crowd 
pressed  in  a  vociferating  mass  upon  the  keeper  and  pushed 
him  away  from  the  cell  before  he  could  take  the  key  from 
the  open  door.  Favored  by  the  dim  light,  for  the  keeper's 
lantern  alone  illuminated  the  gloomy  waste  of  stone,  iron 
and  mortar,  Trajan  snatched  the  key  and  slipped  it  in  his 
pocket. 

During  the  long  night  he  walked  the  corridor  at  inter 
vals,  but  there  was  always  some  one  too  near  to  give 


586  TRAJAN. 

him  a  chance  to  speak  to  Elliot.  Before  daylight  the  cells 
were  opened  and  the  prisoners  marched  down  to  the  court 
yard.  At  first  all  supposed  that  it  was  for  the  final  tragedy, 
but  passing  the  gaoler  Le  Fran£ais,  Trajan  heard  that  face 
tious  patriot  confiding  to  a  crony,  that  it  was  only  a  false, 
alarm,  as  the  execution  could  not  take  place  until  Ferre 
came,  and  that  would  not  be  before  night.  Assured  that 
Elliot  was  in  no  danger,  Trajan  hurried  to  the  empty  cell, 
snatched  the  key  from  the  lock  and  laid  the  one  he  had 
seized  the  night  before  from  the  archbishop's  abandoned 
cell,  carelessly  on  the  pavement  a  little  distance  from  the 
door.  He  entered  the  cell,  stripped  himself  of  his  uniform 
and  crawled  under  the  low  bedstead.  A  half  hour  later  the 
prisoners  returned.  Elliot's  door  was  banged  violently  and 
then  there  was  a  pause.  A  key  was  fitted  in  the  lock  and 
then  another  and  another,  and  finally,  making  no  sign,  the 
perplexed  keeper,  giving  no  hint  to  the  prisoner,  continued 
onward  to  finish  reinstalling  the  inmates.  Elliot,  on  enter 
ing  the  cell,  threw  himself  on  the  bed.  The  uniform  placed 
in  a  heap  under  the  sheet  at  once  attracted  his  notice. 

The  froggings,  high  boots,  sword,  and  pistols,  told  the 
story  plainly  enough.  Where  had  they  come  from  ?  -  Evi 
dently  an  unknown  friend  was  succoring  him.  Throwing 
off  his  own  clothes  he  was  instantly  in  the  uniform.  Grop 
ing  in  the  cot  for  the  sword,  it  fell  between  the  wall  and  the 
bed.  To  his  astonishment,  it  made  no  noise,  and  supposing 
it  caught  in  the  clothes,  thrust  his  arm  down  to  regain  it. 
He  almost  cried  out,  as  his  hand  came  in  contact  with  a 
warm  body.  He  stood  an  instant  astouneded  !  Who  was 
it  ?  Who  but  one  man  in  all  the  world  was  capable  of  this 
sublime  folly. 

"  Trajan,"  he  whispered,  huskily,  "  it  won't  do,  you  are 
right  in  thinking  me  capable  of  this  dastard  selfishness,  after 
all  the  folly  you  have  seen  me  commit  ;  but  I  swear  to  God, 
I  swear  by  my  mother's  love,  I  swear,  that  I  will  never  leave 
this  place,  unless  you  are — 


7,V  THE  LION'S  MOUTH.  587 

He  halted  suddenly  on  a  warning  from  Trajan.  The 
steps  of  the  keeper  were  heard  clanking  down  the  pave 
ment. 

"  Slip  into  the  bed,"  whispered  Trajan. 

Barely  was  the  uniformed  figure  under  the  clothes,  than 
the  keeper  stopped  at  the  cell,  inserted  a  key,  peered  in  and 
seeing  Elliot  looking  at  him,  remarked  pleasantly,  that  he 
was  afraid  the  citizen  would  take  cold  with  an  unlocked 
door  and  laughing  softly  to  himself,  walked  away.  In  a 
moment  Trajan  was  out  from  under  the  cot,  whispering  to 
the  occupant  to  lie  still.  Bending  over  him  that  his  whisper 
might  not  penetrate  the  walls,  he  breathed  in  the  ear  of 
Elliot  : 

"  You  are  crowning  all  your  folly  by  this  stupid  perversity. 
What  difference  can  it  make  whether  I  am  shot  or  not.  A 
year  ago  this  very  month,  I  waited  twelve  hours  for  darkness 
to  leap  into  the  Seine.  My  death  will  l.eave  no  mark,  yours 
will.  Bella  is  waiting  for  you,  and — and— Edith — and  your 
mother.  You  will  break  their  hearts.  As  for  me,  Edith  is 
very  young  and  she  will  soon  forget  the — the  absent.  I 
implore  you  in  God's  name,  don't  delay.  Every  minute*  is 
vital.  Get  up  and  go  and  don't  bring  danger  by  speaking." 
He  fairly  dragged  the  young  man  to  his  feet,  but  he  was  not 
moved  by  this  despairing  plea. 

11 1  should  never  look  an  honest  man  in  the  face  again,  if 
I  did  this  cowardly  thing.  Beside,"  he  added,  "  you  seem 
to  forget  that  the  door  is  locked  and  that  you  have  put  your 
life  in  jeopard,  and  that  we  are  both  doomed." 

For  answer,  Trajan  rose  and  looking  down  through  the 
gloomy  waste  of  darkness,  could  see  the  zone  of  the  circle 
of  light,  that  fell  from  the  keeper's  lamp.  Taking  the  key 
he  had  secreted,  he  thrust  his  slim  wrist  through  the  cross 
bars,  inserted  it  in  the  lock  and  turning  it  the  door  was 
open. 

"  There  you  are  free,  go.  I  shall  find  means  to  get  away, 
I  swear  it." 


588  TRAJAN. 

"  You  may  swear  until  you  are  petrified.  Stir  from  this 
place  I  will  not,  until  you  have  first  left  it." 

Trajan  could  hear  the  obstinate  lad  stripping  himself  of 
the  uniform.  His  brain  became  confused  ;  his  body  numb. 
Was  ever  such  a  chance  thrown  away  with  such  childlike 
heedlessness  ?  He  could  have  strangled  the  ingrate,  as  he 
heard  the  garments,  one  after  the  other,  laid  on  the  bed. 
What  in  God's  name  was  to  be  done.  He  had  himself  put 
on  Elliot's  clothes.  If  he  could  not  be  saved  one  way  he 
could  another.  He  got  up  and  looked  out  into  the  yawn 
ing  darkness,  and  opening  the  door  suddenly  he  said 
decisively  : 

"  The  roll  will  be  called  in  half  an  hour,  the  clocks  have 
just  struck  four.  If  you  are  not  in  the  court  to  answer  the 
name  Legare,  all  will  be  lost — good-by."  Closing  the  door 
he  slipped  back  toward  the  circular  stairway.  Thunder 
struck  by  this  unexpected  solution  of  the  problem,  Elliot 
sank  upon  the  bed  in  despair.  Was  he  to  be  the  evil  genius 
of  this  extraordinary  man  after  all  ?  After  he  had  put  earth 
and  hope  behind  him,  secretly  supported  by  the  thought  of 
the  figure  his  expiation  would  make  in  Bella's  eyes,  was  he 
to  return  and  tell  her  that  he  had  been  outwitted  into  his 
old  impuissance  and  egotistic  incapacity  !  If  he  put  on  the 
uniform,  he  might  yet  undo  the  mischief.  He  would  follow 
Trajan.  He  would  drag  him  before  the  keeper  and  disclose 
the  trick  by  which  he  had  been  trapped  into  the  uniform. 
Now  he  put  it  on  feverishly  enough.  He  was  a  soldier  in  a 
minute.  He  recalled  Trajan's  warning  about  the  roll-call. 
He  looked  out  to  reconnoiter.  Guards  were  walking  about 
in  the  darkness,  some  of  them  sprawling  on  the  floor  where 
they  had  spread  their  blankets  on  coming  up  with  the 
prisoners.  He  slipped  out  softly  and  turning  to  lock  the 
door,  found  the  key  gone.  What  matter.  The  keeper  would 
discover  the  flight  within  an  hour  any  way.  He  set  off  down 
the  wide  chamber  and  laid  down  by  a  group  of  guards  still 
snoring  peacefully.  The  rataplan  from  the  head  of  the 


THEO  PLA  YS  HER  LAST  CARD.  589 

stairs  aroused  them  and  with  the  rest,  he  fell  into  line  in  the 
court  and  answered  with  a  great  tremor,  when  the  citoyen 
Le*gare's  name  was  called  in  the  roll. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

THEO  PLAYS  HER  LAST  CARD. 

'T^HERE  is  no  female  reader  of  this  history,  I  feel  with  a 
1  due  sense  of  guilt,  who  does  not  cry  out  against  the 
further  ignoring  of  our  fascinating  Theo  !  What  are  the 
perils  and  mishaps  of  these  hulking,  addle-headed  young  men, 
to  the  lightest  act  of  this  masterful  little  adept  ?  You  don't 
catch  her  mooning  about,  prey  to  the  devouring  patriots. 
What  business  she  had  with  them  she  did  in  her  decisive 
piquant  way,  and  having  done  it,  she  retires  discreetly,  to 
wait  until  the  conditions  are  restored  when  she  can  reign  and 
shine  and  lead  the  tender  lambs  in  her  own  well  devised 
gambols  about  her.  Madame  de  Bellechasse  declared  that 
it  was  worth  the  perils  of  the  culotte  fracas  to  have  been  per 
mitted  to  become  intime  with  such  esprit,  such  aplomb,  such 
diablesse  enchantant,  and  never  had  the  Bellechasse  table 
groaned  with  such  plenty.  The  long  purse  of  Lafayette 
reached  the  hearts  and  hastened  the  hands  of  the  thrifty 
patriots,  and  you  may  be  sure  that  Theo  knowing  her  milieu 
did  not  stint  the  supplies  from  her  lavish  kinsman's  kitchen. 
Annette  and  the  old  marquis  prayed  that  the  magician  might 
long  remain  the  witch  of  the  domestic  board.  Never  had  the 
poor  old  fellow  indulged  in  such  capons,  such  dindon, 
such  Beaune  or  such  cuts  of  beef.  Whence  it  came,  Madame 
de  Bellechasse  declared  with  uplifted  eyes  was  a  mystery — 
for  love  or  money  she  was  unable  to  procure  such  abundance 
and  such  rarities.  Theo  remarked  afterward,  that  the 
countess  had  employed  the  love  and  money  in  the  wrong 


59°  TRAJAN. 

proportion  ;  enough  money,  even  without  the  love,  she  said 
wickedly,  was  sure  to  bring  whatever  was  much  desired  in 
this  world,  and  the  honest  Lafayette,  proud  of  his  brilliant 
little  sister-in-law's  wit  and  spirit,  roared  again  at  the  picture 
of  noble  niggardliness  portrayed  in  Theo's  vivacious  colors. 

Her  mind  set  at  rest  as  to  the  letters,  the  restless  soul  made 
frequent  sallies  about  the  less  turbulent  quarters  of  the  city, 
returning  with  budgets  of  observation  that  kept  the  house 
hold  in  an  uproar.  Once  deeply  veiled  she  had  penetrated 
to  the  Rue  Fran£ois  Premier,  but  dared  not  enter — lest 
Celeste's  spies  should  be  on  the  watch.  The  next  day  she 
wrote  to  Elliot,  but  the  letter  was  handed  back  to  the  mes 
senger,  with  the  information  that  Elliot  was  in  prison.  This 
was  the  time  that  the  young  Fouche  was  combining  the  great 
plot  for  Trajan's  rescue.  She  could  not  for  a  moment 
credit  Elliot's  incarceration,  and  she  made  up  her  mind 
that  Bella  had  reconquered  her  cousin's  vagrant  affec 
tion.  She  laughed  softly  to  herself  as  she  fancied  him  doing 
penance  and  pleading  her  own  love  as  justification,  "As  if," 
she  murmured  half  aloud,  "  I  could  love  that  doll-faced 
booby  in  the  same  world  that  Trajan  walks  in."  She  laughed 
too,  as  she  recalled  his  implicit  trust  in  her  mere  signs — for 
she  had  never  spoken  a  word  that  meant  love.  She  had  let 
him  kiss  her,  much  as  she  would  have  let  Lafayette's  spaniel 
lick  her  hand. 

One  day  Lafayette  came  with  great  news.  He  had  met 
Gibson  on  the  boulevards  marching  to  the  sorely  beleaguered 
Fort  Vanves.  He  had  carried  off  the  letters  all  right  and 
had  given  them  to  a  friend  of  the  family,  Gray,  who  was 
imprisoned  in  La  Roquette  as  Legare. 

The  blood  curdled  in  an  icy  stream  on  Theo's  heart  when 
this  appalling  mischance  came  to  her  ears.  What,  in  his 
hands  !  The  evidence  of  her  double  perfidy  ;  the  evidence 
too  of  treasons  that  would  make  her  odious  forever  to  all  she 
looked  upon  as  her  dependence  in  the  great  career  she  had 
marked  out  for  herself !  Worst  of  all  she  dared  not  invoke 


THE  0  PL  A  YS  HER  LA  S  T  CA  RD.  5  9 1 

Lafayette's  aid  to  extricate  the  damning  letters  from  Trajan, 
for  she  could  not  explain  to  him  the  reasons  that  made  his 
holding  them  a  hundred-fold  more  perilous  than  Celeste. 

She  stormed  finely,  when  flying  to  her  chamber  after 
Lafayette's  departure,  swelling  with  satisfaction  over  the 
good  news,  as  he  thought  it,  he  had  brought  to  comfort  his 
pretty  relative.  She  couldn't  mingle  hearty  curses  with  her 
bitter  bewailings  and  self-reproaches,  as  the  luckless  Elliot, 
with  man's  privilege  in  profanity,  did  ;  all  she  could  do  was 
to  bemoan  the  foray  upon  Celeste  which  at  peril  of  life  had 
only  resulted  in  placing  the  fatal  packet  in  the  last  hands 
in  the  world  she  would  have  had  them  reach.  What  could 
be  done  ?  She  knew  Trajan  too  well  to  dream  that  he  would 
open  them  under  ordinary  circumstances.  But  if,  as  she 
knew  was  inevitable,  Elliot  ever  broached  the  charges  he  had 
gathered  from  Madelaine  Tarbes,  the  packet  would  be  called 
into  play  and  the  secret  of  the  denunciation  and  her  own 
ulterior  agency  discovered.  She  must  first  of  all  placate 
Celeste  at  any  price.  That  was  a  desperate  and  instant 
necessity. 

She  was  quick  to  act,  this  inveterate  campaigner,  and 
within  an  hour  a  discreet  matron,  faithful  to  the  house 
of  Bellechasse  and  an  inordinate  admirer  of  the  American 
guest,  was  despatched  to  the  Rue  d'Auvergne  with  a  cautious 
message  appointing  a  rendezvous  in  the  Rue  Galilee,  where 
Theo  took  precautions  to  have  herself  guarded.  She  held 
out  a  tempting  bait.  An  immediate  dot  and  the  installation 
of  herself  and  Auguste  on  the  lands  of  the  Prince  d'Amboise 
in  Touraine,  so  soon  as  peace  came.  There  was  a  strange 
look  in  Theo's  eyes  when  she  learned  that  Celeste  had  been 
consigned  to  Mazas,  and  from  Mazas  had  been  sent  to  La 
Roquette.  Both  in  the  same  prison  ?  The  only  two  people 
on  earth  who  knew  any  thing  detrimental  to  her  honor  ?  her 
utmost  pretension  ?  Her  heart  beat  till  she  put  both  hands 
to  her  side  to  check  the  fierce  action.  What  if  it  should 
happen  ;  what  if  one  stroke  took  both  from  the  radiant  sun- 


592  TRAJAN. 

shine  of  her  life  ?  Why  did  she  shake  as  if  in  mortal  ague  ? 
Why  did  she  fly  and  bury  her  face  deep  in  the  pillows  ?  Why 
did  she  cover  her  eyes  as  if  to  shut  out  some  horrid  specta 
cle  ?  In  La  Roquette— /?  depdt  des  condamn'es — the  guar 
dian  temple  of  Mere  Guillotine  !  Trajan,  the  young,  the 
brilliant,  the  masterful,  the  chivalrous,  the  medieval  knight, 
stripped  of  the  golden  harness  of  the  troubadour  and  set 
down  in  a  world  whose  speech  even  was  ajar  with  his  com 
promising  blunders  !  That  noble  head  dropped  trunkless, 
into  the  same  basket  that  had  held  the  malefactor  Trop- 
mann's  ?  But  why  should  she  tremble  and  quake  ?  She  had 
no  hand  in  his  trapping  ;  she  had  done  him  no  injury.  The 
ruse  to  alienate  him  from  the  Ardens  was  a  fair  stroke  in  the 
campaign  of  life.  She  couldn't  help  him  to  escape,  even  if 
her  head  like  her  heart  were  his.  And  Celeste  too  ;  that 
vicious  termagant,  who  had  pried  into  her  secrets,  who  had 
watched  her  leading  and  misleading  Trajan  to  that  final 
declaration  !  Her  prating  tongue  would  cease  its  mischiev 
ous  chattering.  Perhaps  her  head  would  lie  in  the  basket 
with  Trajan's  and  her  dead  lips  hiss  out  her  hate  and 
revelation  ? 

But  she  was  safe  ;  that  was  the  exulting  final  thought. 
Safe,  to  do  and  plan  and  conquer.  What  were  a  hecatomb 
of  Celestes  and  Trajans  to  the  grand  destiny  she  was  on  the 
verge  of  entering.  A  princess  of  Amboise  could  not  stop 
to  mourn  such  obscurities,  even  tho'  her  heart  lay  buried 
with  the  victim  of  Mere  Guillotine.  When  she  descended 
to  dinner  that  day  madame  congratulated  her  on  the  limpid 
sparkle  in  her  eye  ;  the  old  marquis  kissed  her  hand  gal 
lantly  as  he  handed  her  to  the  episcopal  throne  next  him, 
and  Annette  made  her  so  many  and  such  pretty  compliments 
on  her  ravishing  beauty,  that  our  little  Theo  imagined  for 
a  moment  she  was  installed  in  her  princely  halls  near 
Blois. 

Even  better  fortune  came  the  day  following — Sunday.  The 
army  had  captured  the  walls  so  painfully  reared  by  Thiers 


THEO  PLA  YS  HER  LAST  CARD.  593 

in  1848  ;  they  held  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  and  the  skirmishers 
extended  far  into  the  Elysee  quarter.  It  was  dark  when  a 
great  clatter  was  heard  in  the  narrow  Rue  de  1'Universite. 
Then  a  military  step  on  the  stairs — certainly  no  communard 
ever  came  with  such  martial  distinction  as  that.  Theo  saw 
a  gleam  of  gold  buttons,  glinting  steel  scabbards  and  she 
was  in  her  brother's  arms.  With  him  came  the  Viscount 
Bellechasse,  and  great  was  the  felicity  in  the  ancient  hotel 
of  the  family.  When  the  rapture  of  the  news  was  working 
at  its  most  expansive  effervescence,  Jules  carried  his  sister 
off  to  the  corridor  to  tell  her  that  the  prince  was  home  wait 
ing  for  her,  and  that  the  soldiery  having  the  place  under 
their  guns  there  was  no  longer  any  danger  there  for  her. 

She  was  aflame  in  an  instant.  She  would  be  ready  while 
he  was  explaining,  and  when  she  returned  and  found  the 
recent  rapture  clouded  by  the  news  of  her  purpose,  she  could 
hardly  restrain  a  laugh.  The  poor  old  marquis  let  fall  warm 
tears  from  his  dim  old  eyes,  and  Annette  whispered  that  she 
would  come  often  and  visit  her  chere  Theo.  On  the  way 
home  there  was  time  to  tell  all  that  had  befallen.  Theo 
dwelt  in  delicate  lines  upon  the  Celeste  adventure,  remind 
ing  Jules  to  see  that  guards  were  set  on  the  house  in  the 
Rue  d'Auvergne,  so  soon  as  that  quarter  was  recovered, 
to  secure  the  plate  and  linen  stowed  in  Celeste's  room. 

u  But  that  may  be  a  week  yet  ;  we  have  only  begun  the 
work.  The  communards  are  now  fighting  like  Titans — by 
George,  half  the  valor  they  showed  on  the  breastworks  yes 
terday  and  this  morning  would  have  ruined  us  three  weeks 
ago — for  our  own  soldiers  have  been  shaky  from  the  first." 

"  Where  is  the  prison  La  Roquette  ?"  asked  Theo,  with 
only  a  passing  curiosity  of  tone. 

"  That  is  four  miles  from  our  advance  line.  It  will  be 
about  the  last  place  we  shall  reach  ;  the  more's  the  pity. 
Archbishop  Darboy  is  there,  with  Judge  Bonjean,  the  cure 
of  the  Madelaine  and  your  old  friend  Pere  Barodet  and  De 
Marsay." 


594  TRAJAN. 

"  Is  there  no  chance  of — of — rescuing  the  prisoners  there 
— will  no  special  effort  be  made  ?  " 

"  I  fear  there  is  no  chance.  If  the  monsters  of  the  execu 
tive  committee  keep  their  threat,  and  there  isn't  much  doubt 
but  they  will,  all  we  shall  ever  see  of  the  poor  wretches  there 
will  be  their  bones,  if  even  they  are  not  thrown  into  the 
street." 

Theo's  step  became  more  and  more  elastic  Jules  observed 
with  surprise,  as  they  pushed  on  over  the  now  deserted 
streets.  She  did  not  mention  Trajan's  presence  in  La  Ro- 
quette  to  Jules,  but  when  she  sat  with  the  prince  in  Lafayette's 
gorgeous  library  an  hour  later,  she  said  suddenly,  as  if  just 
reminded  of  it  :  "  You  remember  that  fiery  communard, 
Gray  ?  " 

"Very  well,  the  young  man  who  preached  the  right  of  the 
township  to  govern  and  the  union  of  all  townships  as  the 
ideal  of  political  force.  A  silly  doctrine,  which  I  trust  the 
present  experiment  will  cure  him  of,  for  otherwise  he  is  a 
remarkably  agreeable  man." 

"  You  mustn't  mention  it  to  Jules,  for  there's  no  telling 
what  foolish  complication  he  might  make  to  rescue  the  man  ; 
he  is  in  La  Roquette  among  the  hostages.  It  seems  that 
he  was  crowding  some  of  the  less  capable  leaders  and  thrust 
into  the  list  as  a  '  suspect.'  " 

"  Such  men  are  a  menace  to  society,  far  more  dangerous 
than  the  canaille,  and  it  is  just  as  well  he  should  be  relieved 
from  the  responsibilities  he  thinks  himself  under  to  educate 
the  world  in  his  monstrous  doctrines,"  and  the  prince  raised 
his  arm  as  if  addressing  that  assembly  where  he  now  saw 
himself  Prime  Minister,  under  the  last  of  the  Bourbons. 
Theo's  bosom  heaved. 

"  Ah,  why  has  France  been  mad  enough  to  keep  such 
men  as  you  from  directing  her  destinies  !  It  is  the  Athen 
ians  and  Aristides  over  again.  You  are  too  great  in  mind, 
too  just  in  principle,  too  noble  in  impulse,  for  these  poor 
sordid  e very-day  people." 


THEO  PLA  YS  HER  LAS T  CARD.  595 

The  prince  arose,  swelling  responsive  to  this  delicious 
adulation.  He  walked  the  floors,  his  spurs  sinking  into  the 
rich  Turkey  rugs,  and  his  blue  and  gold  uniform  in  odd 
contrast  to  the  dark  panelings  and  sober  color  of  the 
volumes. 

"  Yes,  Theo,  ma  cherc,  and  to  you  I  owe  the  inspiration, 
the  resolve,  the  recognition,  of  the  mandate  my  birth  con 
fers  upon  me  !  To  you,  born  in  a  Republic,  but  the  most 
princely  of  women  !  "  He  came  over  and  kneeled  gallantly 
before  her,  kissing  her  hands  in  a  proudly  chivalrous 
fashion  that  stripped  the  act  of  burlesque.  "  You  shall  be 
my  Pucelle  ;  you  shall  be  the  Pucelle  of  the  restored  mon 
archy  ;  not  the  simple  shepherdess  prey  to  the  schemers, 
but  a  Medici  in  managing  men  and  a  Lucrece  in  wifely 
fidelity." 

It  is  not  fit,  however,  that  plebeian  eyes  should  penetrate 
too  closely  in  princely  love-making.  Beside,  the  prince's 
love  had  long  ago  been  made.  The  scene  we  have  decor 
ously  withdrawn  our  desecrating  eyes  from,  was  but  an 
episode  in  our  matchless  Theo's  felicity — a  hint  to  the  fair 
that  mind  is  sometimes  a  motor  even  in  princely  passions  ! 

The  banner  of  good  fortune  once  more  unfurled,  Theo 
was  made  happy  by  Lafayette's  restoration  in  the  morning. 
He  had  been  wise  enough  to  secrete  himself  in  a  thicket  in 
the  Bois  and  had  no  difficulty  in  making  out  his  status  to 
the  conquering  army,  which  had  not  yet  begun  that  atrocious 
system  of  universal  slaughter  which  made  the  worst  excesses 
of  the  commune  deeds  of  grace  and  holiness  in  comparison. 

"War's  a  good  deal  like  dancing  or  love-making,"  the 
warrior  confided  to  Jules  ;  "  a  fellow  prefers  to  select  his 
partner.  Not  that  I  have  a  word  of  fault  to  find  with  my 
comrades.  They  were  all  first-rate  good  fellows  and  my 
heart  aches  to  think  of  the  fix  they've  got  themselves  in. 
Poor  devils — they're  like  them  fool  Sioux,  led  by  the  nose 
by  their  chiefs  and  driven  to  madness  by  them  beats  of  mis 
sionaries,  'post-traders  and  land-claim  jumpers.  By  the 


596  TRAJAN. 

great  Hickory  !  I  agree  with  them  commune  fellars — when 
they  know  what  they  do  agree  on,"  he  added,  as  a  little 
self-remonstrance  against  this  candid  declaration  of  faith. 
"  They  hold  that  society  has  a  duty  to  itself  before  any  thing 
else  ;  that  war  and  cabinets  and  ministers  and  all  the  show 
of  kings  and  what  not  are  only  strings  to  the  fiddle  ;  that 
the  township  should  be  like  the  family,  taking  care  of  its 
own,  but  refusing  to  levy  taxes  for  war  and  general  enter 
prises.  Now  I  believe  in  that  doctrine,  'pon  my  soul  I 
do,"  he  added  earnestly,  as  Theo  and  Jules  smiled 
incredulously. 

"And  you  are  willing  to  share  your  money  and  divide 
your  property  in  equal  proportions  with  all  your  neighbors 
in  Napoleonville  ?  "  asked  Jules  laughingly. 

"  Now  I've  found  that's  no  more  the  real  communist 
doctrine  than  Peter's  pence  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of 
Rome.  You  might  as  well  charge  property  division  on  the 
New  Testament,  for  that  certainly  does  command  a  man  to 
divide  with  the  poor.  I  have  talked  with  hundreds  of  these 
communists  and  they  repudiate  that  sentiment  in  toto.  It 
may  follow  in  practice,  as  extortion  follows  in  the  best 
schemes  of  taxation,  but  it  does  not  lead  in  the  real  doc 
trine  of  communism,  which  is  simply  a  principle  of 
democracy — applied  to  the  township  as  a  basis  !  " 

"  You  will  put  yourself  upon  that  platform  to  run  for 
Congress  when  Montana  is  admitted  to  the  Union?"  and 
Jules  laughed  uproariously. 

"  By  thunder,  I'll  do  it  !  You  talk  about  communism 
being  confiscation.  Why,  what  is  it  compared  with  the  tariff 
those  Eastern  knaves  and  idiots  have  saddled  upon  us  ?  If 
that  isn'tcommunism  as  you  define  it,  I'd  like  to  know  what  is. 
It  enforces  division  of  property  down  to  the  five-cent  piece  in 
the  bricklayer's  pocket  ;  it  robs  the  million  rich  to  make  the 
hundred  rich  richer  and  cheats  the  million  poor,  while  it 
drives  the  thousands  into  the  almshouse  or  beggary  !  " 

"  I  declare,  Lafayette,  what  these  Frenchmen*  say  about 


THEO  PLA  YS  HER  LAST  CARD.  597 

all  Americans  being  born  politicians  is  literally  true.  Here 
are  you  a  man  of  pleasure  falling  into  the  dryest  discussion 
with  as  much  eagerness  as  a  Parisian  into  the  last  scandal," 
and  Theo  got  up  to  indicate  that  political  economy  was 
not  in  the  rounded  circle  of  her  accomplishments. 

The  grand  mansion  on  the  Roi  de  Rome  became  the 
quartier  general  of  the  triumphant  Versaillaise,  and  the 
prince  beheld  with  complacency  the  havoc  his  fiancee  made 
upon  the  brilliant  aides  of  General  Vinoy,  upon  whose  staff 
he  had  been  serving.  As  yet  the  army  held  only  the  prince's 
quarter  of  the  city,  and  Theo  made  the  most  of  her  oppor 
tunities  to  give  her  name  and  her  brother-in-law's  opulence 
renomee  among  the  noblemen  who  crowded  the  royal  salons. 
Full  table  and  open  house  were  maintained  from  the  day 
after  her  return  until  long  after  the  commune's  resistance 
had  been  crushed  and  the  hapless  thirty  thousand,  most  of 
them  innocent,  were  offered  as  a  holocaust  to  the  cowardly 
ferocity  of  the  agents  of  law  and  order  !  But  the  sound  of 
these  surpassing  gayeties  did  not  penetrate  the  splendid 
misery  in  the  Rue  Frangois  Premier.  Only  a  message  had 
been  received  through  a  kind-hearted  comrade  remaining  on 
Dombrowski's  staff  the  day  after  Philip  and  Trajan  had  been 
degraded  to  the  ranks.  It  was  not  known  what  had  become 
of  them,  and  with  their  eclipse  the  feeble  hope  of  Elliot's 
rescue  waned.  But  curiously  enough,  as  the  hearts  of  the 
rest  grew  heavy  Edith  assumed  a  surprising  confidence. 

She  spoke  in  accents  of  the  strongest  sincerity  of  her 
faith  in  Trajan's  cleverness  to  rescue  her  brother.  As  to 
himself  she  made  no  doubt  that  he  would  come  back  in  good 
time.  The  appearance  of  the  army  down  as  far  as  the 
Rond  Point  on  the  Champs  Elysee  had  lessened  their 
personal  danger,  while  the  closing  in  on  the  center  of  the 
city  added  to  the  danger  of  Elliot  and  his  friends,  as 
the  missiles  of  the  rescuing  army  were  a  new  danger. 

So  soon  as  communication  was  safe,  Theo  with  Jules  has 
tened  to  the  Ardens.  They  were  appalled  at  the  dreadful 


598  TRAJAN. 

situation  of  the  family — at  least  Jules  was.  He  saw  with 
despair  the  ravages  wrought  upon  Bella  by  her  cousin's  peril, 
and  he  did  not  attempt  to  deceive  himself  by  misreading  the 
meaning.  He  promised  that  every  care  should  be  taken  to  save 
the  lives  of  the  victims,  should  they  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
army,  but  he  refrained  from  adding  to  the  anguish  of  the 
family,  by  informing  them  that  there  were  tacitly  understood 
orders  that  no  prisoners  should  be  taken — that  the  business 
of  the  soldiers  in  the  rest  of  Paris  was  massacre. 

Theo  was  reassured  by  the  reception  she  met.  A  lingering 
fear  had  haunted  her  that  Celeste  might,  in  her  desperation, 
have  gone  to  the  Ardens  and  railed  against  her.  She  did  not 
know  much,  unless  she  had  read  the  letters,  and  even  then 
without  circumstances  which  Elliot  and  Trajan  could  alone 
fill  in,  the  story  would  be  too  wild  for  belief.  Kate,  it  is 
true,  had  left  the  room  without  even  bowing  when  she 
entered.  But  the  Scotch  woman  had  never  shown  her 
much  consideration,  and  she  rather  enjoyed  her  discomfited 
enemy's  retreat.  Edith  was  no  more  nor  less  cordial  than 
she  had  ever  been — while  Bella,  who  always  delighted  in 
Theo's  wit,  was  quite  as  cordial  as  usual.  As  she  was  a 
favorite  with  Mrs.  Arden  and  Mrs.  Briscoe,  the  disdain  of 
Kate  and  the  indifference  of  Edith  did  not  check  her  high 
spirits.  She  remained  to  breakfast,  and  when  she  departed 
with  Jules,  that  young  gentleman  was  the  only  drawback 
to  her  gayety.  His  melancholy  had  not  escaped  the  watch 
ful  sister,  nor  its  cause. 

"  Jules,  you  are  really  as  much  of  a  gaby  as  Elliot.  I  tell 
you  that  the  man  Bella  is  mourning  is  not  Elliot — it  is  Gray. 
Did  you  see  her  eyes  kindle  as  her  mother  told  of  Trajan's 
characteristic  devotion,  when  he  slipped  into  the  clutches  of 
the  commune  to  save  Elliot  ?  Trust  me,  I  know  what  a 
woman's  heart  is,  when  there  is  an  imagination  to  lead  it. 
Bella  is  all  imagination.  Elliot  is  a  commonplace  to  her. 
She  thinks  of  him,  much  as  I  think  of  you — as  a  weak  fel 
low  to  be  guided  and  held  up,"  and  she  hugged  his  arm  and 


THEO  PL  A  YS  PIER  LAS T  CARD.  '   599 

looked  up  with  irresistible  witchery  into  his  gloomy  face. 
"  Let  Mere  Guillotine  take  her  own  to  her  bosom,  or  rather 
let  the  commune  bullets  find  the  hearts  of  all  the  hostages 
in  La  Roquette,  and  you  will  be  leading  Bella  to  the  altar 
before  the  house  of  Amboise  has  an  heir." 

"  God — Theo,  you  don't  mean  that  you  are  counting  on 
Gray's  death — on  his  massacre  rather — oh,  Theo,  Theo, 
I'm  afraid  of  you,"  and  he  stopped  in  the  street,  the  Cours 
de  la  Reine,  and  looked  out  over  the  shining  waters  of  the 
Seine.  He  was  not  quick  in  perception  of  the  infraction  of 
the  moral  unities,  but  he  had  come  under  the  force  of  the 
light  that  shines  in  the  darkest  soul,  when  its  recesses  are 
penetrated  by  a  pure  and  real  love.  As  he  shrank  from 
any  act  that  would  give  the  sort  of  people  he  most  prized 
the  balance  of  scandal  or  reproach  against  him,  so  he 
recoiled  in  mental  disgust  from  the  apparition  of  his  sister, 
of  whom  he  was  so  fond  and  proud,  embodying  tendencies 
that  he  associated  with  the  lowest  sort  of  criminal  method. 
Theo  divined  something  of  the  bent  of  her  brother's 
thought. 

"  I'm  counting  on  nothing,  silly  fellow.  I  have  remarked 
that  love  takes  all  enterprise  and  motive  from  a  man. 
You're  not  half  the  creature  of  help  and  wit  and  force  you 
were  last  year.  You're  getting  more  useless  every  day. 
You  will  neither  suggest  ways  or  means  yourself,  nor  approve 
those  I  advise. 

"  You  turn  on  me  in  melodramatic  rolling  of  the  eyes  and 
the  old  tiresome  platitudes  of  the  hypocrites  who  prate  virtues 
they  are  last  to  practice — I  tell  you  what,  Jules,  people  who 
have  time  to  criticise  others'  sins,  have  not  gained  it  by  doing 
virtuous  things  themselves.  I'm  never  afraid  of  people  who 
malign,  for  I  know  they  are  merely  looking  in  upon  them 
selves  and  taking  what  poor  comfort  they  can  by  fouling  the 
first  comer  with  washings  of  their  own  wickedness. 

"  Your  really  virtuous  people  have  no  time  to  know  that  their 
neighbors  sin  ;  they  don't  know  sin  when  they  see  it.  Look 


600    '  TRAJAN. 

at  that  saint  Clare,  or  that  even  saintlier  Mrs.  Arden.  They 
are  the  only  people  in  Paris  who  have  never  glozed  me  in 
the  swell  mob  of  darkness,  with  innuendoes,  and  yet,  if  the 
recording  angel  were  standing  on  that  parapet  assigning 
places  to  the  quick  and  dead,  the  sinlessness  of  these  two 
people  would  be  spotless  enough  to  save  the  whole  city,  and 
goodness  knows  there  has  been  nothing  left  the  future  to 
invent  in  the  way  of  wickedness  after  we  go." 

"  You  know  well  enough,  Theo,  I'm  not  squeamish  in  the 
fair  rules  of  the  game,  but  it  frightens  me,  it  humiliates  me, 
to  think  of  my  sister  counting  on  an  innocent  man's  murder 
to  gain  an  end.  It  has  a  repulsive  melodrama  sound  that 
shocks  me.  It  recalls  the  coarse  female  heroines  of  the  blood 
and  thunder  school  of  novels.  It  degrades  us  to  adventurers 
of  a  type  the  police  journals  illustrate.  I  hate  being  poor, 
but  I  would  rather  be  poor  than  even  passively  criminal." 

"  You're  silly,  morbid  and  unreasonable  ;  the  shadow  on 
the  brow  of  your  love  throws  its  penumbra  over  all  your  eye 
rests  upon.  I  promised  that  since  you  were  so  mad  as  to 
count  on  love  with  wealth,  Trajan  should  be  no  obstacle.  I 
had  two  perfectly  fair  means  for  removing  him  from  your 
way  ;  one  was  in  operation  and  sure  to  succeed,"  and  she 
laughed  softly  as  she  thought  of  the  artless  Elliot's  trans 
parent  inquiries  that  last  night  in  the  Rue  Galilee — "  fate 
obtrudes  an  agency  devised  by  Trajan  himself  and  makes 
my  promise  good  in  another  and  tragical  way.  Voila 
tout:' 

But  Jules  declined  to  fall  into  her  wheedling  moral  laxities, 
as  was  his  amiable  habitude,  and  the  two  walked  homeward 
along  the  deserted  streets — silent  and  thoughtful.  Jules 
grew  more  and  more  morose  as  he  thought  of  the  light  spirit 
beside  him,  his  own  sister,  of  whose  wit  and  clever  faculty 
every  one  made  boast,  and  of  which  he  was  so  proud.  It 
terrified  him  to  think  of  her  so  gay  and  heartless,  trafficking 
even  passively  in  such  diabolism.  He  knew  that  the  last  few 
years  of  her  life  had  been  steeped  in  the  atmosphere  of 


THEO  PL  A  YS  HER  LAST  CARD.  6ot 

intrigue,  and  though  he  had  never  followed  minutely  her 
machinations,  he  had  not  had  a  word  of  fault  to  find 
so  long  as  they  were  confined  to  artifices  against  which 
all  the  world  was  born  armed  and,  if  overcome,  it  was  by 
their  own  stupidity  or  over-confidence.  This  cold-blooded 
open-eyed  speculation  on  the  slaughter  of  an  innocent  man, 
even  by  remote  and  stranger  agencies,  filled  him  with 
horror. 

He  watched  her  with  beating  heart  as  she  recounted  to  the 
prince  on  re-entering,  the  painful  comedy  the  Ardens  had 
gone  through  during  the  eight  weeks  of  anarchy  in  the  city. 
He  was  too  much  immersed  in  his  forebodings  of  the  hope 
lessness  of  his  passion  to  mark  the  insidious  venom  of  the 
figure  she  made  of  Trajan  in  the  story.  But  the  effect  was 
to  leave  upon  the  shuddering  nobleman  and  the  half-dozen 
staff  officers,  the  impression  that  Trajan  had  been  responsi 
ble  for  a  good  deal  in  the  trials  of  the  family.  Nor  did  the 
duplicity  end  here. 

An  amorous  young  vicomte,  captain  under  General 
Douay,  who  was  to  have  the  glory  of  rescuing  the  hostages 
in  Roquette,  came  in  to  tell  of  his  mission,  as  Theo  insinu 
ated  Trajan's  turpitude  to  the  group.  When  the  danger  of 
the  young  man's  post  was  dwelt  on,  she  warned  him  against 
the  communard  Gray — Jules  having  left  the  room — and  gave 
such  a  lurid  sketch  of  his  life  and  doctrines,  that  the  officers 
declared  to  a  man  that  society  would  never  be  safe  with 
such  a  monster  at  large. 

"  This  miserable  is  at  La  Roquette,  you  say,  mademoi 
selle  ?  "  the  young  captain  asked  eagerly  as  Theo  went  over 
to  the  piano. 

"  Yes,  he  seems  to  have  made  enemies  among  his  fellow 
patriots,  and  was  thrust  in  there  some  time  ago  ;  but  he  will 
probably  appear  as  a  victim  of  the  commune  when  your 
rescuing  band  enters  the  prison,  and  soldiers  being  magnan 
imous,  he  will  soon  be  teaching  his  favorite  doctrines 
again." 


602  TRAJAN. 

"  It  will  be  in  the  spirit,  then,  I  promise  you  !  "  cried  the 
indignant  preserver  of  society.  "  1  wish  I  knew  his  face." 

Theo,  leaving  the  instrument,  went  to  a  little  writing- 
desk  and  came  back  to  the  warrior  with  a  cabinet  photo 
graph  which  she  handed  him,  saying  carelessly  : 

"  He  is  a  rather  handsome  fellow,  don't  you  think  ?  " 

The  captain  looked  at  the  fine  face  with  a  puzzled  ex 
pression,  turned  the  card  over  and  read:  "  Nadar,  1868," 
and  tried  to  make  out  a  written  inscription  which  had  been 
removed.  He  held  it  up  to  Theo  mutely  as  she  turned  the 
music  over.  She  glanced  at  it  indifferently  and  said  without 
wincing : 

"  He  was  a  friend  of  my  brother's  in  the  Latin  quarter  in 
those  days — but  we  have  seen  little  of  him  since  the  old 
times." 

"A  tres  jolt  gar gon  tout de  meme,  it  is  a  pity  he  is  so  mis 
led." 

"  Rather  a  pity  that  he  is  so  able  to  mislead  others," 
amended  Theo,  thrumming  the  keys  softly. 

When  the  captain  arose  to  go  late  in  the  evening,  Theo 
pinned  her  colors  on  his  lappel,  to  preserve  him  in  the  des 
perate  dangers  that  every  body  looked  forward  to  on  the 
morrow,  for  the  final  push  for  the  communist  citadel  was 
ordered.  She  gave  him  a  bewildering  smile  as  she  shook 
hands  at  the  door,  from  which  he  bore  not  only  her  colors, 
but  the  photograph  Trajan  had  given  her  in  the  days  when 
she  was  the  goddess  pure  and  free  for  him. 

"What  a  superb  petite  diable  it  is!"  murmured  the  in 
toxicated  hero,  as  he  passed  under  the  opening  blossoms  that 
bathed  the  soft  May  night  with  perfume.  He  strode  along, 
touching  the  odorous  magnolias,  released  from  hot-house 
hostage,  thinking  of  that  human  magnolia  within,  filling  his 
heart  with  a  perfume  that  was  already  becoming  pain. 

"Why  does  she  want  this  handsome  communard  killed? 
Is  it  a  youthful  amour  that  has  become  un  ennuie?  Well, 
if  a  man  hasn't  sense  enough  to  get  rid  of  himself  when  a 


THEO  PL  A  YS  HER  LAST  CARD.  603 

pretty  woman  tires  of  him,  it's  part  of  the  duty  of  the  soldier 
of  law  and  order  to  give  him  riddance  !  It  will  end  the 
liaison  convenably,"  he  muttered,  as  he  slipped  the  photo 
graph  into  his  breast  pocket,  "  and  in  love  as  in  war,  death 
brings  promotion  to  the  deserving  !  " 

Early  that  very  morning  the  anxious  hearts  in  the  Rue 
Frangois  Premier  were  gladdened  by  a  substantial  gleam  of 
joy.  Philip,  a  goblin  from  the  damned,  dragged  his  black 
ened,  bloody  figure  into  the  hallway,  just  as  the  concierge  was 
opening  the  doors.  She  screamed  at  sight  of  him.  His  head, 
hatless,  was  a  mass  of  blood;  his  right  arm  hung  limp,  partly 
supported  by  the  sleeve  pinned  to  the  bosom.  His  face 
powder-stained  and  unrecognizable.  He  had  barely  strength 
to  gasp  : 

"  It  is  I — Kent  !  "  when  he  fell  on  his  knees  against  the 
low  stone-work  of  the  concierge's  lodge.  She  understood 
the  words,  but  losing  her  head,  fled  to  the  family  crying  out 
dolorously  that  monsieur  was  below  dying.  In  spite  of  the 
shock,  or  because  of  it,  Bella  and  Mrs.  Arden  kept  their 
heads  cool.  Neither  gave  a  sign  of  the  anguish  of  disap 
pointment  that  overwhelmed  them  when  it  turned  out  to  be 
Philip  instead  of  Elliot.  It  was  midday  before  he  recovered 
sufficiently  to  give  them  the  narrative  of  the  last  few  days. 

He  had  not  seen  Trajan  since  the  night  of  the  2ist — it  was 
then  noon  of  the  24th.  He  had  been  swept  away  with  a 
crowd  of  hostages  from  the  barricades  in  the  Place  de  la 
Bastille.  Searching  for  him,  he,  Philip,  had  pushed  far  from 
his  battalion.  Learning  from  stragglers  that  the  army  held 
the  Elysee  quarter,  he  had  concealed  himself  by  day  and 
crawled  on  his  hands  and  knees  by  night,  down  to  the  Rue 
de  Rivoli,  down  the  quais,  to  the  barricades  in  the  Place  de 
la  Concorde.  Then  making  a  final  break  the  night  before, 
he  had  been  recaptured  and  dragged  back  into  the  Tuileries 
garden.  He  was  flung  into  one  of  the  huts,  left  since  the 
siege. 

He    had    managed    to   purloin   a  pistol    and    saber,    and 


604  TRAJAN. 

while  the  guards,  who  were  not  at  all  vigilant,  were  empty 
ing  a  cask  of  wine  and  sticking  pine  torches  in  barrels  of 
petroleum,  he  had  crawled  to  the  river  ;  had  plunged  in  and 
swam  as  far  as  his  strength  would  let  him  ;  had  then  gone  to 
the  shore  on  the  side  of  the  Invalides  and  was  exulting  in  his 
escape,  when  three  furies  broke  upon  him,  below  the  bridge 
of  the  Alma.  He  made  vigorous  use  of  his  saber,  but  they 
had  shot  him  through  the  arm  twice,  had  cut  his  head  in  a 
dozen  places,  and  would  have  conquered  him  had  a  body 
of  cavalry  not  been  heard  galloping  down  from  the  Champ 
de  Mars.  Fearing  the  soldiers  almost  as  much  as  the  com 
munists,  he  had  concealed  himself  until  they  passed  and  then 
dragged  himself  thither. 

There  wasn't  much  to  make  the  most  sanguine  hopeful  of 
the  return  of  the  other  two.  Philip,  however,  seemed  to 
think  it  probable. 

"  You  may  be  sure  that  if  there  is  any  thing  that  presence 
of  mind,  fertile  resource  and  daring  can  do  to  rescue  Elliot, 
Gray  will  bring  him  home.  Such  a  spirit  I  never  met.  He 
handled  his  patriot  comrades  like  a  master  with  his  school 
about  him.  He  kept  them  in  good  humor,  told  the  drollest 
stories,  and  I  believe  if  he  had  asked  our  immediate  com 
panions  to  accept  his  leadership  and  attempt  the  storming  of 
Roquette,  he  would  have  got  a  hundred  to  volunteer.  I'll 
stake  my  head  that  he  is  with  Elliot  at  this  moment  ;  and  I'll 
lay  my  sound  arm  against  a  rabbit  that  they'll  both  be  in  this 
house  before  the  week's  out." 

The  invalid  endured  with  great  composure  the  siege  of  hys 
terical  hugs  this  stout  faith  elicited  from  two  pairs  of  white 
arms,  while  the  hardly  less  agitated  mother  and  Kate  soothed 
him  with  less  demonstrative  caresses.  Theo  came  in  with 
the  great  news  of  the  decisive  movement  of  the  day  that  was 
going  to  bring  the  crisis  to  a  climax.  Philip  listened  to  the 
plan  of  operations,  and  asked  the  doctor  ruefully  if  he 
could  not  patch  him  together  long  enough  to  enable  him  to 
go  to  the  rescue  of  his  friends  in  double  peril  from  com- 


THEO  PLA  YS  HER  LAST  CARD.  605 

munist  rage  and  Versaillaise  vengeance.  The  medical  man 
pronounced  such  a  thing  simple  suicide.  He  could  not 
hold  out  to  ride  a  square. 

"  But  I  might  hold  out  in  a  cab." 

"  You  would  be  quite  useless,  you  would  be  in  a  dead 
faint  from  concussion,  and  could  not  recognize  your 
friends." 

Philip  closed  his  eyes  hopelessly.  But  when  the  tyrant 
had  gone  he  whispered  to  Bella  to  find  out  from  Theo  the 
place  of  operations,  and  to  come  to  him  alone  to  combine  a 
last  effort  to  snatch  the  young  men  from  their  complicated 
perils.  As  Bella  looked  from  the  windows  the  sound  of 
musketry  came  in  crackling  volleys  from  the  direction  of 
the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  broken  by  the  harsh  grating  of 
mitrailleuse.  In  the  intervals  loud  salvos  of  cannon  shook 
the  window  panes,  till  they  rattled  like  thick  paper.  Heavy 
clouds  of  smoke  fell  from  over  head,  as  if  the  demons  of 
earth  had  taken  to  the  air  and  were  making  a  battle-ground 
of  these  sulphurous  vapors.  Theo  was  full  of  the  impend 
ing  carnage,  and  she  had  the  whole  audience  to  herself. 

Jules  came  in  during  her  animated  narrative,  and  seizing 
an  opportunity  unseen  by  his  sister,  Bella  beckoned  him  into 
an  alcove,  where  she  had  been  watching  the  troops  passing 
the  end  of  the  street  below.  She  gave  the  young  man  her 
hand,  which  was  hot  and  trembling,  and  looking  in  his  eyes 
beseechingly,  spoke,  keeping  her  voice  at  a  pitch  which  should 
not  attract  Theo  ;  for  though  I  can  not  pretend  to  explain  it, 
I  think  she  had  a  suspicion  of  the  girl's  monstrous  indiffer 
ence,  if  not  worse,  to  the  perils  of  Elliot  and  Trajan. 
Kate,  perhaps,  had  given  the  germ  of  it  to  her  mind,  for 
that  acute  physiognomist  had  roundly  declared  that  Jezebel 
seemed  to  gloat  in  the  deadly  danger  after  she  learned  that 
Celeste  was  in  prison. 

"  Jules,  you  feel  kindly  toward  me,  I  know.  I  can't  pre 
tend  not  to  know  it  ;  you  would  do  something  generous  for 
me,  wouldn't  you — if —if  I  asked  you  ?  " 


606  TRAJAN. 

"  I  would  die  for  you,  Bella,  if  you  could  ask  it  and  it 
would  bring  you  happiness — I — I " 

"  Oh,  Jules,  you  must  not  hope  in  that  sense,  you  know 
that  can  never  be.  I  told  you  that  long  ago.  I  can  be 
a  friend,  but—  out — don't  talk  of  this  now,  it  seems  such 
wickedness,  when  all  I  hold  dear  are  in  such  deadly  danger. 
You  are  Trajan's  friend — the  noblest  of  men  ;  you  are 
Elliot's  oldest  friend  in  Paris.  Pledge  me  to  be  the  first  in 
La  Roquette,  pledge  me  to  see  that  if  they  escape  the  com 
mune  they  shall  be  saved  from  the  rage  of  the  army." 

Jules  breathed  hard  ;  Theo  was  right,  it  was  Trajan  that 
Bella's  heart  beat  for.  She  had  named  him  first.  It  was 
plain  that  it  was  love  for  him  and  not  Elliot  that  prompted 
this  despairing  appeal.  All  his  old  confidence  in  Theo's 
arts  came  back  with  a  rush  of  penitent  hope.  Trajan  liv 
ing  would  be  no  impediment.  Theo,  whose  quick  eye  had 
detected  the  relation,  would  be  equal  to  keeping  the  two 
apart  and  he  would  be  all  the  stronger  with  Bella  by  acting 
the  part  of  heroic  evangel. 

"  Whatever  a  man  can  do  to  bring  Trajan  and  Elliot  safe 
to  this  house,  I  will  do,  have  no  fear.  I  promise  you  to 
neither  rest  nor  sleep  until  I  am  in  the  prison  with  the 
soldiers  at  my  back." 

She  looked  in  his  eyes,  her  own  brimming  with  tears, 
and  lifted  his  hand  to  her  lips,  murmuring  : 

"  God  bless  you  for  that  assurance  ;  it  is  given  as  I  knew 
you  would  give  it.  Pray  lose  no  time  ;  our  hearts  are  torn 
every  instant  these  guns  sound,  lest  harm  should  be  coming 
to  those  we  love."  She  went  to  a  table  where  blooming  lilacs 
had  been  placed  in  vases,  and  plucking  a  spray,  to  which  a 
dainty  sprig  of  lily  of  the  valley  and  pink  mignonette  were 
added,  she  tied  them  together,  and  fastening  them  in  his 
lappel,  said  with  a  sad  smile  : 

"There,  Sir  Knight,  are  your  lady's  colors,  see  that  they 
are  not  dishonored." 

Theo  had  lost  none  of  this  by-play  ;  she  had  a  dim  com- 


THEO  PL  A  YS  HER  LAST  CARD.  607 

prehension  of  its  meaning,  and  as  Jules  was  leaving  the  room 
she  ran  after  him. 

"  You  have  made  a  breach — the  fort  is  to  surrender — you 
are  decorated  with  the  sign  of  victory,  the  tri-color,  love's 
gage,  and  your  country's  flag." 

Jules  looked  at  her.  "  No,  Theo,  it  is  not  love's  badge 
just  yet,  but  I  mean  to  make  it  that.  You  were  right  about 
Bella  ;  it  is  Trajan  she  loves,  and  she  has  sent  me  to  his  res 
cue,  and  I  am  going  to  do  it  or  die." 

She  looked  at  him  in  triumphant  admiration.  Even  *on 
the  brink  of  the  abyss  that  his  purpose  opened  to  her 
future,  she  swelled  in  proud  adoration.  There  was  no 
treason  in  his  devotion.  He  went  willingly  to  the  burial  of 
his  own  hopes  and  the  ruin  of  her  projects. 

"  You  are  a  grand  fellow,  Jules.     I  worship  you." 

He  embraced  her  passionately,  and  as  the  tears  rushed  to 
his  eyes  he  said  chokingly  : 

"  Thank  God,  Theo,  I  go  with  this  comfort  in  my  heart. 
I  was  afraid  that — that— 

"  That  I  would  dissuade  you  from  acting  like  a  man  and 
a  friend.  Oh,  Jules,  how  could  you  misjudge  me  so  shame 
fully  ?  " 

"  Thank  God,  it  was  misjudgment,  little  woman.  Let  us 
never  speak  of  it  again." 

They  were  in  the  street  and  he  couldn't  let  her  go  home 
alone  among  marching  men  and  the  scurrying  cavalry. 

"  Wouldn't  it  be  better  for  you  to  remain  with  the  Ardens 
and  try  to  comfort  them  ?"  he  asked,  looking  about  uneasily. 
"  I  shall  be  losing  precious  time  going  so  far  as  the  house." 

"  No,  come  with  me  a  few  squares,  perhaps  we  shall  meet 
some  of  our  friends  and  I  can  get  some  one  of  them  to  escort 
me  ;  at  any  rate  when  we  reach  the  river  I  shall  have  no 
fears." 

A  horrible  doubt  of  her  sincerity  again  came  in  his  mind 
as  they  hurried  forward,  but  he  said  nothing.  As  they 
advanced  the  soldiers  diminished,  and  when  they  emerged 


608  TRAJAN. 

under  the  snowy  blossoms  of  the  Cours  de  la  Reine,  groups 
of  the  staff  were  loitering  under  the  trees. 

"  Ah,  there  is  Captain  Allard,  he  will  relieve  you,  Jules.  I 
can  depend  on  him  for  an  escort.  Call  him." 

The  captain,  with  Theo's  colors  conspicuous  among  his 
military  decorations,  came  forward  with  alacrity. 

Jules  had  no  sooner  confided  his  sister  to  the  adoring 
Mars,  than  with  a  hasty  kiss  he  hurried  down  the  river  bank 
to  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  where  a  bedlam  of  firing  was 
heard. 

"  He's  a  silly  fellow,  that  cher  frere  of  mine,"  Theo  said, 
dazzling  the  young  officer  by  a  bewildering  glance.  "  Do 
you  know  that  he  has  allowed  the  tears  and  prayers  of  a 
desolate  demoiselle  to  exact  his  promise  to  rescue  our  com 
munard  friend.  I  am  in  terror  lest  his  rashness  may  lead 
him  into  a  scrape.  Will  you  not  see  that  he  is  guarded 
when — when — La  Roquette  is  reached  ?  "  and  she  squeezed  a 
tear  from  the  corner  of  each  enchanting  eye. 

"  Ah,  mademoiselle,  you  humiliate  me  by  those  tears.  All 
who  are  dear  to  you  shall  be  guarded.  Be  sure  Monsieur 
Jules  will  not  be  permitted  to  rush  into  danger  until  the 
vengeance  of  order  is  complete."  He  was  rewarded  by  the 
most  bewitching  little  glance  of  pensive  reassurance  and 
declared  that  he  was  desole  that  duty  deprived  him  of  the 
joy  of  accompanying  the  distressed  sister  home.  She  turned 
and  saw  him  waving  his  plumes  as  she  passed  out  of  sight, 
under  escort  of  a  tall  orderly  clanking  along  behind  her. 

She  tripped  homeward  buoyant  and  light  of  heart.  The 
cannon  boomed  from  the  Palais  Bourbon.  She  could  see  the 
red  glare  as  the  guns  spat  out  their  Tartarean  fires  ;  it  was 
a  salvo  to  her  coming  glory  ;  screeching  shells,  curved 
in  misty  parabolic  flight  over  the  trees  and  the  river 
and  fell  in  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  ;  it  was  the  aureole  in  the 
horizon  of  her  triumph  ;  harsh,  ratcheting,  scraping,  as  of 
all  the  mills  in  Hades  grating  against  grinding  frag 
ments  of  iron,  the  symphony  of  the  mitrailleuse  ;  this  she 


IN  LA  ROQUETTE.  609 

could  not  reconcile  in  the  roseate  picture,  and  she  stopped 
to  shudder. 

The  boom  of  the  guns,  the  spasmodic  crackling  of  mus 
ketry,  the  appalling  grind  of  the  mitrailleuse  sounded  all 
day  from  the  same  demon-contested  spot ;  the  night  came  in 
with  all  the  banners  of  hate,  rage,  revenge,  despair 
and  massacre  flung  in  blood  red  flame  across  the  heavens. 
Pillars  of  crimson  fire  uprose  like  giant  figures  of  wrath 
from  three-quarters  of  the  doomed  city.  The  furies  had 
mounted  the  battlements  and  hate  held  them  in  her  bloody 
hand.  Death  stood  as  arbiter  claiming  the  repentant  as  well 
as  the  resistant,  consigning  each  mangled  and  desecrated  to 
the  same  limbo  of  ignoble  oblivion. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

IN    LA    ROQUETTE. 

TORTURED  by  the  burden  of  his  fear  that  Elliot  in  his 
new  madness  would  destroy  the  chance  fortune  had 
given  him,  Trajan  crouched  in  the  darkness,  uncertain 
whether  to  make  an  effort  for  his  own  life  or  not.  If  Elliot 
persisted  in  his  purpose  and  came  back  to  the  cell,  all  chance 
for  either  of  them  would  be  gone.  But  for  Elliot's  safety 
some  one  must  be  in  the  cell  when  the  keeper  opened  it 
an  hour  later.  Elliot's  change  from  blonde  to  brunette  made 
it  possible  for  him  to  deceive  any  thing  but  close  scrutiny. 
The  two  were  nearly  the  same  stature,  and  in  such  confu 
sion  as  marked  the  last  days  of  the  patriots'  administration, 
the  light  eyes  of  Arden  would  not  be  remarked  or  the 
sudden  change  to  black.  Provided  Elliot  did  not  persist  in 
his  marplot  purpose,  the  key  in  his  possession  might  give 
him  an  opportunity  to  escape.  At  any  rate  to  return  to  the 
cell  was  the  only  present  safety.  He  could  denounce  Elliot 
as  a  madman  if  he  came  to  undo  the  work  he  had  begun, 
39 


6 10  TRAJAN. 

He  breathed  with  a  sort  of  tranquil  satisfaction  as  he  sank 
down  on  the  cot  where  Elliot  had  passed  a  day  and  night  of 
terror. 

Worn  out  by  the  fatigue  of  the  days  he  had  endured  with 
out  rest,  he  did  not  awake  until  the  turnkey  passed  on  his 
second  tour — ten  o'clock  in  the  morning.  He  confronted 
the  official  fearlessly  now,  for  he  had  not  seen  him  before 
and  suspected  that  he  was  a  new  comer.  Trajan  wonder 
ing  why  he  had  been  allowed  to  sleep  so  long,  asked  the 
keeper  if  there  was  no  breakfast  for  him.  The  man  laughed, 
answering  significantly  : 

"  You  will  be  let  out  soon,  don't  give  yourself  any  uneasi 
ness  about  food.  The  patriots  have  none  to  spare  now — since 
the  Versaillaise  have  entered  the  city  !  " 

This  explained  the  change  in  the  routine,  and  Trajan  didn't 
know  whether  to  rejoice  or  fear.  He  knew  what  the  "  letting 
out"  meant.  It  was  the  hideous  buffoonery  of  the  assassins, 
signifying  shooting.  He  had  seen  scores,  happy  in  the 
delusion  of  liberation  thus  announced  to  them,  marched 
upon  ambuscades  of  musketry  and  drawn  bayonets. 

The  glowing  sunshine  of  the  24th  of  May  stole  in  through 
the  long  narrow  slits  far  above  the  dungeon.  The  priests  in 
the  cells  opposite  were  absorbed  in  devotion.  The  gray  hair 
of  the  poor  old  archbishop  could  be  seen,  like  the  pale  shade 
of  a  martyr's  crown,  as  he  kneeled  by  his  miserable  cot.  For 
a  half  hour  during  the  afternoon  the  priests  and  Judge 
Bonjean  were  taken  out  and  permitted  to  descend  to  the 
prison  garden  for  air  and  recreation.  It  was  a  touching 
spectacle,  as  the  six,  whom  every  one  knew  were  doomed, 
walked  calmly  down  the  great  corridor,  the  guards  insulting 
and  berating  them.  They  bore  the  curses  and  even  blows 
with  saintly  meekness — one  of  them,  a  handsome  young 
priest,  provoking  the  buffets  upon  himself,  that  the  sacred 
person  of  the  prelate  might  be  spared. 

The  prison  shook  at  times  with  the  explosions  that  seemed 
to  come  from  a"  not  distant  quarter.  Every  one  realized  that 


IN  LA  RO QUETTE.  6il 

a  decisive  movement  was  at  hand.  The  chance  of  Elliot's 
doing  any  thing  desperate  diminished  with  every  hour,  and 
Trajan  began  to  think  of  a  means  of  flying  to  the  succor  he 
knew  to  be  near.  If  he  could  have  seen  or  signaled  the 
old  keeper,  whom  he  knew  to  be  a  foe  to  the  commune  at 
heart,  he  would  have  asked  him  to  lend  him  assistance.  But 
the  man  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  The  corridors  began  to 
fill  with  unfamiliar  uniforms.  At  seven  o'clock,  when  the 
first  friendly  dimness  was  settling  over  the  gloomy  towers,  a 
loud  shouting  was  heard  at  the  end  of  the  prison,  toward 
the  stairs. 

A  group  of  scarlet-sashed  personages  tramped  in,  and 
behind  them  a  mob  of  reeling  gesticulating  figures.  Trajan's 
heart  leaped  to  his  throat  ;  among  them  he  saw  a  dozen  not 
in  uniform.  He  was  saved.  He  could  when  the  friendly 
darkness  became  thick  enough,  mingle  with  these  and  take 
his  chances  for  flying  to  the  soldiers.  He  could  not  contain 
his  impatience.  Had  he  the  key  ?  Yes,  safe.  Would  it 
work  ?  His  hands  shook  with  excitement.  He  dared  not 
try  it  in  the  lock.  He  listened  eagerly.  A  great  glare  of 
light  suddenly  came  in  wavering  streaks  from  the  direction 
of  the  vestibule.  Heavy  steps  sounded  nearer  and  nearer 
and  nearer.  Heavens,  could  it  be  Elliot  coming  to  bring 
ruin,  now  that  release  was  in  sight  ?  Under  the  over-master 
ing  fear  of  it,  he  thrust  his  hand  through  the  bars,  resolved 
to  fly  and  be  himself  shot  down  before  the  foolish  fellow 
could  compromise  himself.  A  voice  in  the  next  cell  arrested 
his  movement. 

"  My  God,  it  is  Ferre  !  The  priests  will  be  slaughtered  !  " 
The  marching  group  had  now  come  in  direct  range  of 
Trajan's  cell.  Sure  enough  !  There  was  the  young  miscreant 
he  had  exposed  as  a  thief  in  the  club.  His  glasses  were  still 
on  his  eyes,  secured  by  a  gold  chain,  instead  of  the  paper  cord 
he  had  worn  in  his  student  days.  His  slim  body  was  gor 
geous  in  a  closely  fitting  Prince  Albert  of  white  cloth  ;  the 
scarlet  insignia  of  his  office  passed  diagonally  over  his 


612  TRAJAN.  • 

shoulder.  He  was  flanked  by  fellow  dignitaries,  and  with 
these  again  crowded  by  a  howling  bedlam  of  guards  of  all 
descriptions — drunk  with  madness  or  liquor — probably  both 
— insatiable  now  for  blood,  as  the  dream  of  pillage  drew  to 
a  term.  Ranging  themselves  midway  between  Trajan's  and 
the  priests'  cells,  Ferre  commanded  silence,  and  holding  a 
paper  lavishly  blotched  with  red  ink,  called  out  as  the  turn 
key  threw  the  doors  open. 

"  Georges  Darboy,  calling  himself  servant  of  a  person 
named  God  !  "  He  paused. 

From  cell  23,  the  aged  archbishop  came  out  into  the 
hideous  mass  of  anarchy,  for  a  moment  silent.  His  purple 
soutane  covered  his  emaciated  figure.  His  hands  hung 
beside  him.  He  came  quite  forward  to  his  assassins  and 
bowing  his  head  meekly  waited  !  Shading  his  eyes  with  the 
paper,  held  as  a  screen,  Ferre  gave  the  pathetic  figure  a 
verifying  glance  and  then  resumed  the  fearful  roll  call. 

"  Gaspard  Deguerrey,  soi  disant  serviteur  d'un  nomme* 
Dieu/"  the  voice  tranquil,  decisive  and  egotistically  pro 
longed,  as  if  the  assassin  called  the  mob  to  remark  the  con 
fidence  with  which  he  swept  these  instruments  of  superstition 
from  the  path  of  the  people. 

At  the  call,  an  aged  man,  past  his  eightieth  year,  dragged 
his  poor  old  limbs  tremblingly  forward,  and,  like  the  bishop, 
answered  simply  and  meekly  : 

"  Here." 

Then  came  the  nommJ  Leon  De  Coudray — a  large  fine- 
looking  man  in  middle  life,  rector  of  the  School  of  St.  Gene- 
vieve,  and  a  Jesuit.  There  was  no  meekness  in  the  resonant 
— " me  void"  with  which  he  answered  his  name,  nor  quail 
ing  in  the  glance  of  derisive  contempt  with  which  he  swept 
the  tatterdemalion  mob,  whose  eyes  flamed  in  impatient 
ferocity  for  his  audacious  blood. 

Alexis  Clerc,  a  brother  Jesuit,  hastened  from  his  cell,  with 
a  buoyant  step  and  sparkling  eye.  He  was  still  a  mere  boy 
— having  but  just  attained  orders,  He  had  coveted  martyr- 


IN  LA  ROQUETTE.  613 

dom  since  his  novitiate,  and  now  that  the  crown  was  in  his 
sight  he  was  joyous  as  the  lover  before  the  rose  garlands  of 
the  marriage  feast.  A  murmur  ran  through  the  reeking 
mass  of  lust  and  murder  as  the  young  handsome  face  became 
visible  ;  but  Ferre,  repressing  the  outbreak  by  a  terrible 
"  Silence,  citoyens  !  "  proceeded  to  the  end  of  the  list 
marked  for  sacrifice. 

The  last  of  the  five  names  called  was  Louis  Bonjean,  pres 
ident  of  the  "  Cour  de  Cassation,"  a  man  in  vigorous  old 
age,  who  was  put  among  the  hostages  through  private  spite 
of  lawyers  in  the  commune  against  whom  he  had  made  de 
cisions  in  other  years.  The  list  complete,  Ferre  gave  the 
order  to  march  the  victims,  two  by  two,  and  the  archbishop, 
leaning  on  the  arm  of  the  judge,  was  last  in  the  line. 

To  Trajan's  unspeakable  surprise,  instead  of  retracing  the 
way  they  had  come,  Ferre  led  the  soldiers  toward  the  nar 
row  cylinder  staircase,  within  a  few  yards  of  the  scene  that 
had  just  passed:  Now,  if  ever,  was  the  time  for  him  to 
make  use  of  the  key.  The  flaming  torches  of  petroleum 
passed  to  the  front,  on  a  call  from  Ferre,  to  light  the  dark 
stairs. 

In  the  friendly  gloom  thus  flung  over  the  corridor,  the 
door  was  softly  opened  and  in  two  minutes  Trajan  was  ming 
ling  with  the  mob,  pushing  and  jostling  down  the  narrow 
corkscrew  stairs.  When  pressed  forward  by  the  eager 
throng  behind,  he  reached  the  landing  on  the  second  floor, 
Ferre  was  enforcing  order  and  selecting  the  firing  party. 
The  first  spot  selected  was  found  to  be  in  full  view  of  the 
invalids  in  the  infirmary,  whose  heads  were  thrust  against 
the  grating  ;  for  some  reason  the  place  was  deemed  inappro 
priate  and  the  cortege,  retracing  its  steps,  came  out  in  the 
broad  court  of  the  prison.  While  some  one  went  forward  to 
unlock  the  iron  gates  leading  to  a  smaller  paved  court,  the 
archbishop  leaned  wearily  against  the  railings.  It  was  a 
sepulchral  spectacle.  What  with  the  darkness  of  the  night  and 
the  thick  blackness  of  the  smoke  settling  in  fantastic  shapes 


614  TRAJAN. 

over  the  awful  work,  the  deed  and  its  surroundings  were  in 
ghastly  sympathy.  The  flaming  torches  threw  just  enough 
light  to  give  the  scene  diabolic  outline  and  atmosphere.  At 
the  bend  in  the  wide  avenue  running  around  the  interior 
building  the  party  came  to  a  fin%l  halt. 

In  all  the  horror  of  his  own  critical  position,  Trajan  felt 
an  instinctive  sense  of  guilt  in  being  one,  even  involuntarily, 
of  this  sacrilegious  massacre.  He  had  only  escaped  Ferre's 
clutches  by  causing  his  friends  in  the  "  Treize  "  to  circulate 
the  rumor  that  Gray  was  still  in  Spain  with  Gambetta. 
Ferre  had  denounced  him  to  the  Committee  of  Public 
Safety  and  he  had  been  declared  hors  la  A?/,  any  patriot 
bringing  his  head  to  the  committee  would  be  rewarded  by 
the patrie.  His  mind  was  divided  between  the  nearness  of 
his  own  and  Elliot's  danger  and  the  anguish  of  the  scene. 
He  scrutinized  as  closely  as  he  dared  the  hideous  faces 
about  him  in  search  of  Elliot,  dreading  an  imprudent  ex 
clamation  on  the  latter's  part  should  he  suddenly  recognize 
his  rescuer. 

The  prisoners  were  placed  in  a  row,  their  backs  against 
the  wall.  As  the  bishop  was  hustled  roughly  into  place, 
with  a  gentle  movement  he  arrested  the  steps  of  his  guards, 
and,  turning  to  the  group,  now  motionless,  said,  with  an 
accent  of  sincerity  that  drew  tears  on  many  an  eye  : 

"  My  children  ! — I  freely  forgive  you.  If  the  cause  of 
my  Master  can  be  served  in  this  sacrifice,  I  surrender  my 
short  remaining  space  of  life  as  gladly  as  I  have  devoted 
fifty  years  to  his  sublime  ministry.  But  my  heart  aches  for 
you — I  know  you  do  not  know  what  you  do,  and  I  pray  the 
good  God  that  this  may  not  be  visited  upon  you — I — 

But  here,  with  a  brutal  curse,  Ferre"  ordered  the  crowd  to 
clamor  the  benignant  voice  into  silence.  At  this,  moved 
beyond  resistance,  two  of  the  guards  fell  on  their  knees  im 
ploring  the  martyr's  blessing. 

Outraged  by  such  pusillanimity  and  surrender  to  the 
superstition  of  the  nommc  God,  the  mob  of  guards,  with 


.    TN  LA  ROQUETTE  615 

Ferre  at  their  head,  seized  the  recalcitrants  and  whisked  them 
away  under  a  volley  of  such  frightful  blasphemy  as  the 
French  language  alone  seems  the  fit  vehicle  for. 

Trajan  could  not  believe  that  the  scene  was  real.  The  fig 
ures  swam  before  his  eyes.  The  savage  guards,  the  revolt 
ing  jests  and  scurrilities,  the  priests  ranged  in  line  along 
the  wall.  Surely,  it  was  a  phantom  horror  that  was 
pranking  in  this  devil's  comedy  before  him  !  No  !  The 
victims  stand  erect  ;  the  priests,  with  clasped  hands,  are 
praying  ;  the  glistening  barrels  are  raised  on  a  line  ;  the 
hoarse  clamor  is  hushed  ;  the  figure  of  Ferre,  rigid,  satanic, 
jocose,  looms  up  under  the  spluttering  flame — 

"  Make  ready— fire  !  " 

A  cry  of  horror,  a  confused  gurgling  of  insatiable  execra- 
ation,  a  demon  chorus  of  exultant  joy,  possible  to  no  human 
throats, — and  the  figures  at  the  wall  lie  a  confused  mass. 
But  they  have  not  met  the  mercy  of  swift  death.  There  is 
a  gasping  movement  in  the  tortured  heap — another  volley  is 
fired,  then  straggling  shots,  as  if  to  prolong  the  delights  of  it ; 
and  then  Ferre  himself,  to  mark  his  place  in  the  tragedy, 
runs  to  the  mass,  and  planting  his  pistol  on  the  gray  hairs  of 
the  bishop,  fires  the  last  shot. 

Some  ran  shrieking  from  the  scene,  others  moved  solemnly 
away.  The  guards  were  formed  in  confused  order  the  mob 
was  driven  before  them,  and  the  place  left  in  darkness — 
Cimmerian — terrifying.  Horror  was  in  the  air,  thick,  chok 
ing,  blinding.  The  guilty  mob  fled,  and  Trajan  was  borne 
with  them,  through  the  wide  roadway,  through  the  gloomy 
passages,  into  the  great  court,  where  the  first-comers  looked 
back  in  dread,  as  if  they  expected  to  see  the  bloody  corpses, 
with  the  whips  and  scorpions  of  vengeance  upborn  in  their 
dead  hands.  Trajan  knew  that  his  own,  perhaps  Elliot's, 
escape  depended  on  preserving  his  sanity  in  this  phantasmal 
place  of  horror.  He  set  about  the  quest  for  the  missing. 

But  the  confusion  made  his  task  a  slow  one.  It  was  mid 
night  and  he  had  not  seen  the  figure  in  the  uniform  he  knew 


616  TRAJAN. 

so  well.  There  was  no  longer  even  the  semblance  of  discipline 
in  the  place.  A  howling  mob,  drunken  and  brutal,  passed 
along  the  cells,  firing  pistols  at  random  in  the  darkness. 

From  time  to  time  Lefran9ais,  the  gaoler,  received  des 
patches  which  he  read  with  imprecations  so  dire  that  those 
near  him  shrank  back,  the  satyr  leer  fading  into  fear. 
Twice  patriots  ran  along  the  corridors,  bidding  the  miserable 
prisoners  make  ready  to  come  forth,  but  they  were  not 
molested.  It  was  just  after  the  stroke  of  midnight  that  a 
rush  was  made  toward  the  central  gate.  The  wan  and 
haggard  throng  pressed  toward  a  hurdle  which  left  a  stream 
of  crimson  on  the  stones  as  the  carriers  jolted  it  savagely 
along,  shouting  impious  snatch  and  ribald  gibes.  A  fold  of 
rich  shining  purple  fell  over  the  rough  handles  of  the  frame, 
dragging  its  golden  bullion  fringe  on  the  floor.  The  mangled 
bodies  were  going  to  Pere  La  Chaise,  to  be  flung  in  a  con 
fused  heap  for  sepulture,  where,  four  days  later,  reverent 
hands  uncovered  them  for  burial  amid  lamentation  and 
tears. 

Morning  came,  but  still  no  sign  of  Elliot,  and  Trajan 
began  to  count  on  an  effort  to  break  from  the  place.  He 
had  purloined  from  sleeping  patriots  a  military  jacket,  a 
kepi  and  sword,  and  felt  tolerably  secure.  He  dreaded 
assignment  to  such  duty  as  he  had  seen  done  by  some  of  the 
men  with  a  reluctance  that  had  brought  upon  them  blows 
from  the  outraged  patriots.  Surely  Elliot  must  have  escaped. 

He  would  not,  with  all  his  generous  heedlessness,  have 
lingered  in  this  death-trap,  possible  as  it  was  by  a  ready  bit 
of  invention  to  take  advantage  of  the  lax  discipline  to  pass 
out.  He  watched  the  entrance,  resolving  to  seize  the  first 
pretext  to  slip  away.  But  the  laxity  prevailing  inside  did  not 
rule  at  the  gates.  Here  a  company  of  Algerian  soldiers, 
fidelity  itself  to  an  order  once  given,  savagely  thrust  every 
one  back  who  came  without  written  evidence  of  liberty  to  go 
out.  Faint  with  hungers-nothing  had  been  distributed  for 
twenty-four  hours — he  could  barely  drag  his  weary  limbs 


IN  LA  ROQUETTE.  617 

along  the  cold  pavement.  Noon  came,  and  still  no  sign  ; 
bedlam  surging  about  him.  Darkness  fell  ;  he  lay  on  the 
floor  in  a  stupor  ;  his  mind  wandered.  How  long  he  lay 
thus  he  could  not  tell :  when  his  eyes  opened  it  was  daylight? 
and  he  was  in  a  soft,  luxurious  bed.  "  It  is  a  dream,"  he 
murmured,  and  closed  his  eyes.  Faint  whispers  sounded 
like  music  in  his  ears.  "  Somebody  "  stood  bending  over 
him. 

"  Somebody's"  lips  were  on  his  forehead.  "  Somebody's" 
hands  were  smoothing  back  his  hair.  Wonderful  dream  !  He 
dared  not  move — he  dared  not  breathe — it  would  break 
the  spell.  But  "  Somebody,"  in  most  undreamlike  and  cor 
poreal  might,  was  forcing  his  lips  open  and  pouring  an 
undreamlike  and  unambrosial  fluid  down  his  throat.  Even 
a  dream  has  its  amenities,  and  he  caught  the  bodily  hand 
and  staring  with  all  liis  might,  saw  that  it  was  no  dream,  and 
that  Edith  was  really  beside  him.  If  you  can  not  guess  the 
ocular  demonstrations  he  pretended  were  needed  to  con 
vince  him  that  she  was  not  a  blessed  ghost,  you  have  not  the 
susceptibilities  needed  to  realize  episodes  like  this,  and  I 
haven't  the  patience  to  waste  time  on  you.  I  will  say,  how 
ever,  that  I  never  knew  of  a  dialogue  carried  on  so  long  in 
the  dumb  but  eloquent  language  of  lips  without  words.  But 
it  came  to  an  end  at  last,  and  as  the  dreamer  realized  the 
scene,  there  was  such  a  tableau  as  he  had  never  expected  to 
see  again. 

Who  should  be  standing  at  the  foot  of  the  bed  but  Elliot, 
behind  him  Philip,  and  seated  in  great  composure,  as  though 
scenes  of  this  sort  were  incidents  of  their  daily  existence, — 
Mrs.  Arden,  rosy,  placid  and  smiling  as  ever  ;  Mrs.  Briscoe, 
with  a  lap  filled  with  letters,  which  she  seemed  in  no  hurry 
to  read  ;  Kate,  gazing  at  the  astonished  dreamer  in  a  way  to 
make  him  blush.  Bella  was  invisible  only  because  Trajan 
was  not  gifted  with  eyes  in  the  top  of  his  head  like  a  polypus 
— the  earth  and  not  the  sky  being  the  scene  of  his  endeavors. 
Bella  had  been  holding  the  invalid's  head,  while  "  Some- 


618  TRAJAN. 

body"  had  inserted  the  silver  spoon  with  the  unnnectar-like 
flavor.  Trajan  fell  back  and  closed  his  eyes. 

"Come,  now,  old  fellow,  that's  'possum — you  needn't 
expect  any  more  baby-feeding.  Own  up,  like  a  man — you 
are  as  well  as  you  ever  were."  And  Elliot's  voice  confirmed 
the  realism  of  the  scene. 

"  It  was  fear  that  you  would  all  vanish,"  replied  the  cul 
prit,  apologetically  ;  whereat  there  was  a  great  shout  of 
laughter.  "But  explain  it  all." 

"Not  just  yet,  Mr.  Absolute  ;  the  doctor  says  you  are  to 
do  nothing  but  eat  for  a  week." 

"  Then  I  shall  fly  back  to  Roquette,  for  I  have  a  horror 
of  being  fat.  That's  a  good  fellow,  Elliot,  tell  me  how- 
how — " 

"  How  we  got  out  of  that  pit  of  Hell  ?  Bella  is  shaking 
her  head  like  an  aspen  in  a  gale  of  wind  ;  but  I  will 
relieve  your  anxiety,  as  I  am  told  that  an  anxious  spirit 
preys  upon  the  health,  and  merely  in  the  doctor's  interest  I 
will  tell  you.  First,  sir,  every  member  of  this  family  agrees 
that  you  acted  like  a — a — wretch  in  forcing  the  brand  of 
caitiff  upon  the  head  of  the  Ardens."  (Wild  exclamations 
of  indignant  denial,  and  a  squeeze  from  a  certain  hand.) 
"Applause  from  the  audience  over  a  sentiment  striking  as 
true,"  continued  Elliot,  narrating  : 

"  When  the  head  of  the  Ardens  found  himself  thrown 
out  of  the  patrimonial  halls — that  is  to  say,  the  patriot's  cell 
— his  heart,  like  his  head,  was  filled  with  remorse,  shame, 
anguish,  and  the  resolve  to  make  two  people  die  where  one 
would  have  satisfied  the  holy  cause  of  \\~\e  patrie  f 

"  He  was,  however,  still  strong  enough  in  the  canny  virtues 
of  his  kinswoman,  the  immortal  Kate  McNair — whom  void" 
— and  he  bowed  to  that  crimson  relic  of  the  blood  of  Knox 
— "he — the  Arden — mingled  in  patriotic  joviality  with  his 
camarades  of  the  Avengers  of  Flourens,  and  was  by  rank 
and  circumstances  given  a  chief  place  in  the  roll-call,  answer 
ing  with  sonorous  vehemence  to  the  name  of  Legare  ;  deter- 


IN  LA  ROQUETTE.  619 

mined  to  seize  the  real  L6gare  by  the  collar  so  soon  as  he 
appeared,  and  thrust  him  incontinently  from  the  hospitable, 
though  confining  walls  put  at  his  disposal  by  the  patrie. 

"  Various  duties,  however,  obtruded  to  make  it  impossible 
to  keep  as  diligent  watch  for  the  recreant  Legare  as  the 
urgency  of  the  case  demanded.  The  Arden  was  denied  the 
ancestral  right  of  inspecting  the  interior  of  his  domains.  It 
was  late  in  the  evening  when,  near  the  outer  gate,  he  heard  a 
great  clamor.  A  group  of  the  foes  of  the  people  had  just 
passed  out  of  the  gate  under  some  Satanic  pretext.  The 
son  of  Arden,  knowing  the  slippery  methods  of  Legare,  felt 
at  once  that  he  was  among  this  scandalous  party — four  of 
them,  he  learned  from  the  guard,  who  for  the  moment  was 
alone  at  the  gate. 

"  In  an  instant,  the  Arden  was  in  pursuit,  with  two  other 
patriots  besides.  The  four  runaways  were  caught,  not  by 
the  guards,  but  by  intelligent  people  who  knew  that  no  well- 
behaved  citizen  should  run  at  such  a  time.  But  among  the 
wretched  fellows  no  Legare  was  found.  Taken  back  to  the 
prison  by  some  unaccountable  stupidity  Arden's  prisoner  es 
caped,  and  with  him  a  note  addressed  to  any  friendly  hand 
that  it  might  fall  into  in  the  Rue  Fran9ois  Premier,  to  send 
succor,  if  that  were  possible,  to  La  Roquette.  But  the  good 
intentions  of  Arden  were  taken  at  high  value,  and  he  was 
placed  on  guard  at  the  door.  Here  he  overheard  Ferre,  the 
host,  in  a  sense,  of  Roquette,  confide  to  his  slave  Lefrancais 
that  it  was  all  up  with  the  game,  that  Attila's  forces  were 
near  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  that  a  last  blow  alone  remained,  and 
that  the  drama  was  to  be  made  heroic,  sublime,  he  said,  by 
shooting  the  six  hostages  that  night.  If  the  army  were  at  the 
Hotel  de  Ville,  it  was  within  a  few  minutes'  march  of  Ro 
quette.  A  cordon  had  been  stretched  across  the  inner  court, 
at  the  foot  of  the  grand  stairway,  with  charge  to  let  no  one 
pass  but  the  chiefs  of  Communes  -girt  in  their  sanguinary 
insignia. 

"  Here  was  an  assurance  that  the  delinquent  Legare  was 


620  TRAJAN. 

measurably  secure,  and  when,  at  midnight,  his  compatriot 
came  to  relieve  him,  the  son  of  Arden  was  gone.  A  dozen 
times  as  he  dodged  his  way  down  the  Rue  St.  Antoine  and 
made  a  great  detour  to  the  river  to  avoid  the  barricaded 
center  of  action,  the  Bastille,  his  heart  misgave  him  and  he 
repented  the  wild  security  of  Roquette.  He  was  jostled  by 
patriots  and  challenged  by  them,  and  blinded  by  the  explo 
sions  of  petroleum,  which  was  just  then  the  beverage  of  the 
ladies  he  met.  Lines  of  fire  girded  him  ;  the  horizon  was  a 
series  of  bursting  Vesuvii  in  the  direction  of  the  east  and 
south. 

"  As  he  pushed  onward  shells  fell  in  hurtling  splinters, 
knocking  walls  and  balconies,  and  even  bodies,  into  the 
street.  The  Hotel  de  Ville  was  spitting  out  tongues  of  flame 
as  he  passed  it  ;  mysterious  figures  with  little  casks  were 
moving  in  and  out  among  its  stately  arches  ;  more  of  them 
were  flitting  about  the  colonnades  of  the  Louvre.  It  was 
broad  daylight  now,  and  the  Arden  was  seized  by  a  patrol  and 
set  to  defend  a  barrier  in  the  Rue  St.  Antoine.  The  Arden 
didn't  fight  with  the  hearty  good  will  of  his  comrades,  and 
when  the  cry  came  that  the  barricade  was  turned,  he  fled 
toward  the  enemy  instead  of  from  them.  But  the  enemy 
were  nowhere  visible,  and  flying  into  the  maze  of  winding 
streets  in  the  Marais,  it  was  late  in  the  afternoon  before  he 
recognized  the  locality  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Bourse. 

"  Heaps  of  dead  lay  on  all  sides — most  of  them  bayoneted. 
Coming  out  in  the  Place  Vendome,  he  was  among  troops  of 
the  line.  He  had  thrown  away  the  picturesque  but  obtrusive 
raiment  thrust  upon  him  by  Legare  in  the  cell  of  La 
Roquette,  and  his  shirt  sleeves  enabled  him  to  mingle  among 
the  "  saviours,"  as  he  heard  the  grimy,  blood-stained  veterans 
endearingly  called,  by  the  crowds  that  would  have  burned  them 
in  petroleum  the  day  before,  and  boiled  any  one  who  mourned 
them  in  tears.  A  woman,  clad  in  the  picturesque  costume 
of  the  Amazons  of  the  Seine — beautiful,  as  she  devils  can 
sometimes  be,  was  dragged  forward  from  the  Palais  de  Jus- 


IN  LA  KOQ  UE  TTE.  621 

tice,  where  she  had  been  secreted.  She  faced  the  jeering 
cowards  with  dauntless  courage.  Men  pricked  her  body 
with  the  tips  of  bayonets  ;  women,  who  had  probably 
admired,  envied  and  cheered  her  the  day  before,  spat  in  her 
handsome,  daring  face.  Officers  stood  by  commenting  criti 
cally  on  her  fine  points,  but  never  offered  to  interfere. 

"  One  ruffian  in  uniform  came  up  and  woman-like  spat  at 
her  ;  quick  as  lightning,  she  seized  a  bayonet  and  thrust  it 
deep  into  the  wretch's  neck.  In  an  instant  twenty  bullets 
were  in  her  body,  and  she  sank  in  a  heap  to  the  pavement. 

"  Twenty  encouraging  scenes  like  this  came  under  these 
eyes,  revealing  the  cowardice,  cruelty,  ferocity  of  the  law  and 
order  mob,  which  has  vanquished  the  lawless  and  disorderly 
mob.  But  as  you  are -impatient,  Monsieur  Legare — for  we 
citizen  each  other  no  more — I  will  pass  over  details,  which  I 
mean  to  give  you  in  the  form  of  affidavits,  to  publish  in  your 
great  work  on  the  commune,  proving  the  equal  criminality  of 
the  two  mobs — the  Versaillaise  and  the  commune.  With  this 
difference,  we,  the  citoyens,  slaughtered  for  an  idea,  the  Attilas 
for  revenge — one  for  a  principle,  the  other  for  concealment 
— for  since  you  last  looked  on  Paris,  Citizen  Legare,  thirty 
thousand  men,  women  and  children  have  gone  where  the 
love  of  humanity  is  no  crime. 

"  The  Arden,  sick  to  his  soul  of  this  monstrous  epilogue  of 
horror,  inquired  for  the  quarters  of  General  Vinoy.  It 
was  in  the  Rue  Gabrielle,  but  the  devils  still  held  the  Made- 
laine.  Passing  on  through  the  Boulevard  des  Capucines, 
the  firing  was  still  going  on.  Near  the  Grand  Hotel  a  dead 
soldier  lay  with  his  coat  over  his  body  ;  to  secure  himself 
from  molestation,  Arden  donned  it  and  made  his  way  more 
confidently.  The  "  devils  "  had  been  driven  from  the  Rue 
Royal  into  the  church.  Curiosity  led  Arden  inside  as  the 
soldiers  closed  in,  for  he  heard  with  amazement  volleys  from 
the  sacred  interior,  where  for  fifty  years  aristocratic  Paris 
has  been  married  and  given  in  marriage,  christened  and  sent 
to  the  tomb. 


622  TRAJAN. 

"  Tongue  refuses  to  tell  the  grisly  horror  that  desecrated 
this  majestic  temple — perhaps  three  hundred  wretched 
fugitives  had  fled  thither  for  refuge,  trusting  the  holy 
limits  for  immunity.  Then  began  a  chase  and  butchery 
the  tongue  revolts  to  outline.  A  group  of  women,  some  gray- 
haired,  but  all  of  them  women,  fell  before  the  grand 
altar  supplicating  mercy.  The  bayonet  and  the  bullet 
answered  them.  In  their  fury  the  soldiers  shot  their  own 
comrades,  as  the  cowering  victims  dragged  themselves  bleed 
ing  to  their  butchers'  feet.  On  the  grand  altar  a  little  curly 
headed  child — in  happier  times  one  would  have  taken  it  for 
one  of  the  strayed  cherubim — was  pinned  to  the  chalice 
sanctuary  with  a  sword  bayonet,  its  little  arms  stretching 
toward  the  murdering  monster  like  -two  pinionless  wings. 

"  The  floor — marble,  as  you  remember — ran  in  gore.  There 
was  not  a  living  person  left  but  the  soldiers  when  I  ran  down 
the  wide  stone  stairs  clotted  with  blood.  Well,  let  this  and 
a  thousand  fold  more  as  bad,  pass,  until  the  time  comes  to 
tell  it.  I  reached  Vinoy.  He  knew  me  as  Philip's  kinsman, 
and  put  me  in  communication  with  Captain  Allard,  of 
Douay's  staff,  who  was  to  take  charge  of  La  Roquette  so  soon 
as  rescued.  This  was  a  trying  point  for  the  constancy  of 
the  son  of  Arden" — and  as  he  said  this,  Bella  stole  to  his  side 
— "  for  he  could  now  have  been  in  the  Rue  Frai^ois  Pre 
mier  in  ten  minutes — but  he  remembered  he  had  not  left  his 
card  with  the  citizen  Legare.  He  sent  a  messenger  to  this 
mansion,  and  I  am  told  there  was  as  much  joy  over  the  return 
of  this  one  sinner  as  all  Paris  has  shown  at  an  army  of 
them  ! 

"  When  I  informed  Captain  Allard  of  the  project  to  murder 
the  archbishop,  instant  orders  were  issued  to  advance  on 
La  Roquette.  We  got  there  too  late.  It  was  night.  All 
the  cells  were 'open.  To  my  amazement,  the  very  first  thing 
Allard  did  was  to  call  for  the  register.  He  looked  through 
the  names,  but  not  finding  what  he  seemed  in  search  of,  he 
called  the  old  keeper,  you  remember,  who  had  been  in  the 


IN  LA  ROQUET TE.  623 

place  for  years.     He  had  secreted  himself  before  the  shoot 
ing  of  the  hostages,  and  only  reappeared  with  the  army. 

"  '  Gray — the  Communard — what  became  of  him  ? '  asked 
Allard. 

"  '  I  know  of  no  such  name — ' 

"  '  Oh,  I  can  explain,'  and  I  told  him  the  good  turn  Rene* 
had  done  you,  and  that  you  were  the  very  Legare  I  was  in 
search  of.  Allard  looked  at  me  very  hard  and  asked  :  '  Do 
you  know,  monsieur,  that  this  Gray  is  one  of  the  most  infa 
mous  and  most  murderous  of  this  vile  horde  ? ' 

"  I  allowed  with  some  natural  emphasis,  considering  certain 
things  that  I  knew,  that  Gray  was  any  thing  but  the  monster 
the  gallant  captain  had  been  made  to  believe  him.  But 
the  hero  was  not  to  be  convinced  ;  he  gave  orders  that  the 
odious  Legare  was  to  be  shot  on  sight,  and  bade  the  keeper, 
who  alone  knew  him,  to  search  every  nook  and  corner  for 
him. 

"  He  even  had  a  photograph  of  you,  so  dangerous  are 
you  to  society,  and  with  this  in  his  hand  scrutinized  a 
hundred  of  the  released  prisoners.  But  you  were  not  among 
them.  Jules  Carnot,  who  had  entered  with  us,  set  out  on  a 
quest  of  his  own.  The  keepers  on  the  lower  floor  informed 
him  that  there  were  a  score  of  madmen  confined  in  the 
office,  as  there  had  been  no  place  in  the  cells,  crowded 
with  fifteen  hundred  prisoners.  Among  these  madmen 
Jules  found  the  citizen  Legare,  babbling  soft  nothings  to  a 
poor  old  man,  who  had  lost  daughter  and  son,  one  in  the 
Prussian  siege,  one  on  the  barricades  serving  as  an  Amazon. 
Jules  rushed  to  the  son  of  Arden,  who  was  wildly  ransack 
ing  the  habiliments  of  the  rejoicing  crowd,  and  shouted  : 
'I  have  found  him;  Trajan's  here  safe.'  'Found 
whom  ? '  asked  Allard  eagerly,  as  he  came  with  the  picture 
in  his  hand,  comparing  it*with  the  woe-begone  faces 
passing  before  him. 

"  '  My  servant,  captain,'  responded  the  unabashed  Arden, 
looking  that  suspicious  officer  in  the  eye.     '  Let  me  go  for 


624  TRAJAN. 

him,'  Arden  whispered,  as  Jules  in  astonishment  looked 
from  one  to  the  other.  When  the  matter  was  explained  to 
Jules  he  trembled  and  turned  ghastly.  I  declare  I  never 
dreamed  he  was  so  sensitive,  or  thought  so  much  of  you"- 
and  he  looked  slyly  at  Bella  as  he  said  this.  "  A  quite  harm 
less  madman  who  was  indifferent  to  the  name  put  upon  him 
satisfied  the  captain's  scrutiny,  and  a  half  hour  later  Jules 
managed  to  get  you  out  into  a  hastily  cobbled  litter,  and 
like  the  Spartan  brothers  Josephus  speaks  of,  we  two 
might  have  been  seen  for  the  next  three  mortal  hours  toiling 
under  the  burden  of  your  150  pounds. 

"  There,  so  far  as  the  historical  part  goes,  is  the  story  in 
brief  of  your  rescue,  by  other  hands  than  the  Arden's.  There 
are  numerous  touches,  which  I  have  not  ventured  to  stop  to 
paint.  But  I  mean  to  write  my  experiences  one  of  these 
days  and  then  you  shall  have  the  psychological  history  of 
these  exciting  nights  and  days  in  the  best  manner  of  the 
new-fashioned  mental  anatomists." 

"  And  so,  after  all,  Elliot,  the  story  ends  the  same  way.  I 
owe  my  life  to  your  heroism  now,  as  I  owed  it  to  your  senti 
mental  impulse  a  year  ago."  Trajan  stretched  out  his 
feeble  hand. 

Six  people  may  all  talk  at  once  and  manage  to  make  the 
babel  passably  entertaining,  if  only  as  an  exercise  of  the 
lungs,  but  the  most  stenographic  pen,  or  myriad-minded 
writer,  is  unable  to  reproduce,  even  phonetically,  what 
would  seem  of  coherent  interest  to  the  reader. 

First,  Trajan's  allusion  had  enlivened  unextinguishable 
curiosity  in  two  busy  bra'::.!,  and  Edith,  besetting  the 
invalid,  extorted  a  whispered  promise  to  tell  all  about  it,  while 
Bella,  with  an  imperative  gesture,  indicated  her  will  to  be 
instantly  apprised  of  the  true  intent  of  the  mysterious 
speech.  When  the  little  tale  was  told  over  in  the  corner, 
quite  secure  from  the  other  by  no  means  prying  eyes,  with 
much  soft  embracing  and  gentle  gurgles  of  delight,  the 
largest  share  of  the  "  adoration  "  kept  in  the  sentimental 


/, V  LA  ROQ  UE  T TE.  625 

corner  of  Bella's  heart,  was  instantly  transferred  to  Elliot, 
with  a  feminine  indifference  to  consistency  which  charmed, 
while  it  amazed  the  rapturously  enshrined  idol.  Mrs. 
Arden,  confident  that  the  artless  Edith  would  keep  no 
secret  from  her  mother,  repressed  her  natural  impatience. 

"  I  say,  Trajan,  even  at  your  own  gauge  I'm  still  in  your 
debt  a  life  or  two  ;  I  should  have  been  shot  at  Meaux  if  you 
hadn't  gulled  that  good-natured  Saxon — whom,  by  the  way, 
I  mean  to  remember  one  of  these  days,  in  a  way  that  will 
delight  his  schdtzchen — then  again  in  La  Roquette  ;  beside 
the  burden  on  me  as  head  of  the  Ardens  in  denying  the 
Rothschild  bull  the  gory  pleasure  of  stamping  out  Bella  !  I 
think  you  will  call  it  quits  if  I  give  you  a  mother-in-law,  and 
— and — " 

"  Elliot — for  shame  !  Have  you  lost  all  sense  of  delicacy  ?  " 
reproved  his  mother,  with  a  placid  tone  that  deprived  the 
reprimand  of  its  efficacy. 

"  You  mean  that  your  consent  has  not  been  asked.  Inno 
cent  Arden  that  you  are  !  Don't  you  know  that  this  san 
guinary  person,  lying  so  peacefully  in  my  bed,  is  a  commun 
ist  ;  that  his  creed  decrees  the  equal  partition  of  treasure  ? 
Well,  we  are  your  treasures  ;  I  represent  the  Kohinoor 
diamond." 

"Or  the  Pitt,"  suggested  Philip. 

"  Either  will  cover  the  case.  Edith  represents — well  she 
represents  some  great  Indian  pearl,  let  us  say — 

"  Hence  aunt  Cordelia  is  mother  of  pearl,"  amended 
Philip. 

"Well — no — Phil,  that's  most  too  attenuated  even  for 
sick-room  wit.  Well,  as  I  was  explaining,  Trajan  takes  half 
your  treasure  and  leaves  me  as  the  least  valuable  of  the 
spoil." 

And  so  it  was  from  grave  to  gay,  and  every  body  got  ready 

to  quit  the  scene  of  so  much  that  was   sinister  even  in  this 

joy.     'Twas  Bella  who  had  the  last  pang  to  bear,  that  comes 

under  the  cognizance  of  this  historian.     While  every  thing 

40 


626  TRAJAN. 

was  in  the  confusion  of  packing  Jules  called  and  asked  for 
Bella.  She  went  into  the  library  and  received  him  with  gentle 
affection.  She  knew  what  he  was  going  to  say,  and  he,  poor 
fellow,  knew  what  she  was  going  to  answer.  He  had  redeemed 
not  only  his  own  but  Theo's  past,  in  her  eyes,  by  his  loyalty 
at  Roquette  ;  and  all  that  his  conduct  meant  there  she  was 
never  to  know.  But  suspecting  much  of  other  things,  she 
was  deeply  moved  by  his  manfully-controlled  grief,  and  told 
him  as  tenderly  as  a  "  no  "  to  a  lover  can  be  told,  that  she  had 
loved  her  cousin  since  she  was  a  child.  That  she  had  some 
times  misunderstood  the  force  of  that  love,  but  that  she 
knew  what  it  meant  when  it  came  to  peril.  They,  she  and 
Jules,  should  meet  again  across  the  water,  when  he  had 
happily  given  some  worthy  girl  his  true  and  noble  heart. 
And  so  they  parted,  and  as  Elliot  saw  her  moistened  eye 
when  she  returned  to  the  family  group  he  did  not  need  to 
be  told  poor  Jules'  errand. 

As  she  left  the  room  again  for  the  library  he  followed  her. 

"  Bella,  you  remember  what  you  said  to  me  the  other  day  ? " 

"  Among  the  many  wise  sayings  I  am  called  upon  to  lavish 
on  you  I  don't  recollect  any  particular  saying,  at  the  instant, 
that  is  more  worthy  than  another  of  remembrance." 

"  Bella,"  his  voice  trembled  now  at  her  affected  levity  ; 
"  you  told  me  you  adored  Trajan." 

"  And  I  told  the  truth  ;  don't  you  ? " 

He  took  her  two  hands  and  held  them,  as  she  stood  passive 
and  blushing  now. 

"  You  are  half  engaged  to  so  many  people,  adoring  and 
dismissing  admirers,  that  I  have  resolved  to  ask  you  a  ques 
tion  :  Suppose  I  should  ask  you  whom  you  mean  to  marry, 
what  would  you  say  ?  " 

"  Suppose  I  should  say  the  first  man  that  asks  me." 

"  Then  I  should  say,  Bella,  dearest,  can  you  give  me  a 
chance  to  show  you  that  I  am  not  the  dolt  I  seem,  and  say 
you  will  be  my  wife  ? " 

It  is  difficult  to  say  what  the  ready-witted  Bella  would 


IN  LA  ROQUET TE.  627 

have  said  to  this,  For  the  truth  was,  she  couldn't  very  well 
say  any  thing,  since  two  lips,  however  flexible,  are  unable  to 
even  murmur  when  two  other  lips  press  them  too  closely. 
How  long  this  curious  pantomime  might  have  continued  I 
should,  in  the  interests  of  philosophy,  like  to  know  ;  but  a 
rustle  as  of  some  one  retreating  hastily  from  the  door  recalled 
the  lovers  to  their  senses — or  to  the  possibility  of  speech  ; 
and  then,  if  the  rustler  were  not  too  far  off,  she  might  have 
heard  : 

"  My  darling  !  "  followed  by  smirking  sounds  tediously 
prolonged. 

"  You  silly  fellow  !  "  then  smirk,  smirk,  smirk  again. 

Trajan,  too,  was  to  return  to  his  native  land.  Paris  would 
never  be  the  home  of  art  to  him  again.  The  things  he  had 
seen  and  the  memories  of  them  would  paralyze  his  pencil. 
The  very  moment  Bella  was  laying  down  her  arms,  Trajan, 
ready  to  set  out  for  the  studio,  was  overtaken  by  Edith  at 
the  door,  who  found  that  she  had  an  errand  at  the  Bon 
Marche  that  would  take  her  past  the  Rue  Dragon,  As  the 
cab  crawled  over  the  streets,  still  filled  with  the  wreck  of  the 
two  sieges,  Trajan  said  suddenly  : 

"  If  we  could  only  get  a  marguerite  now,  I  could  fulfill  the 
conditions  you  prescribed  at  the  Lovers'  Well.  Couldn't  you 
teach  me  the  words  without  the  flower  ?  " 

"  What  a  simpleton  !  of  course  not.  But  would  you  really 
like  to  learn  it  ?  " 

"  Rapture  would  be  no  name  for  the  joy  of  initiation. 
Can't  we  drive  to  the  market  and  get  some  marguerites  ?" 

"  Well,  since  you're  really  sincere  and  not  teasing,  perhaps 
I'll  gratify  you,  but  you  don't  deserve  such  indulgence,  for 
I'm  sure  you're  laughing  ;  aren't  you  ?  " 

"I  assure  you  the  sphinxes  yonder — do  you  see  them  with 
staring  eyes  ? — couldn't  serve  as  models  for  such  solemnity 
as  mine." 

"  Then  I'll  gratify  you  ;  though  I  never  meant  to,  you  were 
so  horrid  and  stupid  that  day  at  Cre"cy." 


628  TRAJAN. 

"  Why  at  Cre"cy  ?  I  supposed  that  I  was  always  stupid,  but 
flattered  myself  I  was  not  horrid  !  " 

Edith,  skeptically — "  I  believe  you're  laughing.  If  I 
thought  you  were,  you  should  never  see  something  I've  got." 

Trajan,  woebegone  as  to  countenance — "  Belisarius  at  the 
gate  never  felt  the  wretchedness  I  now  feel  ;  be  merciful.'' 

"  You  have  really  caught  the  tricks  of  my  good-for-nothing 
brother  and  I  shan't  open  my  mouth  again — no — I  shan't — 
I  won't  be  trifled  with." 

"  Then  I  must  ask  Madame  Agay  to  teach  me  the  mar 
guerite  mystery.  She  always  has  a  pot  of  them  in  her  window. 
I  wonder  if  she  consults  them  every  day  ?  " 

"  Of  course  not  ;  she's  married.  It's  only  when  one's  in 
love  one  asks  the  marguerite  if  one  is  to  be  lucky." 

"  Then  I'll  not  rest  until  I've  consulted  the  flower  ;  driver, 
please  hasten." 

At  this  "  Somebody  "  laughing  and  turning  all  sorts  of 
colors,  takes  a  little  silken  thing  from  a  receptacle  mysteri 
ously  hidden  above  her  waist,  and  opening  it,  brings  forth  a 
withered  flower,  quite  sere  and  of  no  distinguishable  color. 
Belisarius  regards  it  in  comic  wonder,  but  subdues  the  ex 
pression  to  respectful  curiosity,  as  "  Somebody's  "  eyes  look 
into  his  questioningly  : 

"  What  is  it,  an  amulet  to  exorcise  evil  persons  and  deeds  ?  " 

"  Do  you  think  you  would  be  here  if  it  were  ?  " 

"  That's  true.     What  is  it  then  ?  " 

"  Don't  you  recognize  it.  No,  no  !  You  mustn't  take  it, 
it  would  fall  in  pieces  !  You  put  it  in  your  pocket  that  day 
at  Crecy,  to  use  when  you  found  out  the  name  of  the  girl 
you  wanted  to  marry." 

"  How  lucky  !  I  need  it  now,  for  I  found  out  that  very 
day.  I  wondered  where  it  had  gone.  Perhaps  you  have 
already  asked  it  ?  What  did  it  say  ?  " 

"  Of  course  I  didn't  ask  it,  the  lover  must  do  that  ?  " 

"Very  well.  Oh  little  faded,  blood-stained  flower,  that  has 
nestled  on  the  purest  heart  in  all  the  world,  what  is  the  name 


IN  LA  COQUETTE.  ,  629 

of  the  loveliest  creature  that  ever  made  a  painter  abhor  his 
art,  because  it  falls  so  far  short  of  embodying  her  ?  Answer 
me,  faded  flower  that  grew  in  beauty  in  green  fields,  and 
unlike  the  human,  reached  Heaven  without  changing  form  !  " 

"  How  absurd  of  you  !  "  says  "  Somebody  "  with  glistening 
eyes.  "  The  flower  doesn't  answer  the  question  that  way. 
You  must  think  of  the  name  of  the  girl  you  love." 

"I've  thought  of  nothing  else  for  five  months." 

"Yes,  but  you  must  name  the  flower  by  her  name." 

"  I  did  so  long  ago — I  called  it  Angel." 

"  What  a  plague  you  are — her  own  very  name,  I  mean." 

"Well,  let's  call  her— " 

"  Stop,   you  mustn't   tell, — that  is,  not  now — think  it." 

"  Very  well,  I'm  doing  my  best  to  recall  it,  but  it's  a 
struggle.  Don't  keep  me  in  suspense  !  " 

"  Now  I'll  touch  the  leaves.  I  won't  tear  them  out,  be 
cause  when  you've  found  out  whether  she  loves  you  or  not, 
you'll  have  to  give  her  the  flower." 

"  Very  well,  keep  it  !  " 

il  Je  faime  (mind,  it's  the  girl  the  flower  is  talking  for) — 
beaucoup  / — passionment — pas  de  tout — there — the  last  leaf 
on  the  last  round  tells  the  story,  it  says  she  loves  you  pas 
sionately  !  " 

"  I  knew  that." 

"  You  egotistical  fellow  !  " 

"  I  thought  flowers  told  the  marriage  day.  I  don't  think 
much  of  it,  do  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  think  very  much  of  it,  for  it  told  me  something 
when  somebody  himself  didn't  know  it  !  " 

"  What  did  it  tell  you  ? " 

"It  told  me  that  somebody  loved  me  'very  much'  that 
day  at  Cre"cy  and  it  came  true  !  " 

"  Dear  me,  what  a  wonderful  flower  !  "  Then  the  street 
being  narrow — they  were  on  the  Rue  Dragon — there  were 
goings  on  that  would  have  surprised  the  respectable  bour 
geoisie  in  any  other  quarter  of  the  city. 


630  TRAJAN. 

"  Don't  lose  the  flower,  Edith,  in  case  I  should  forget  the 
name,"  Trajan  said,  maliciously,  as  he  alighted,  flying  before 
the  scornful  young  person  who  drove  onward. 

Madame  Agay,  who  had  not  seen  her  lodger  for  a  month, 
was  enchant  &  in  the  profusest  form.  She  detained  him  an 
hour  with  garrulities  on  the  trials  she  had  undergone  from 
ces  animaux  the  communards.  It  was  not  until  all  these 
woes  were  set  forth  that  Trajan  was  given  a  chance  to 
ascend  to  his  studio,  where  he  was  deep  in  the  salutations  of 
Betty  and  Trip,  when  the  stout  guardian  came  breathlessly 
to  announce  two  visitors,  who  she  said  had  been  a  dozen 
times  to  see  him  during  the  week.  They  wouldn't  give  their 
names,  but  declared  that  it  was  a  matter  of  the  utmost  im 
portance  to  Monsieur  Gray  !  Indeed,  while  she  spoke,  a 
female  voice  at  the  door  said  : 

"  Monsieur  Gray  will  find  that  he  does  well  in  seeing  us," 
and  the  speaker  pushed  the  door  open  and  entered.  There 
were  two  of  them,  women,  evidently  of  the  lower  middle 
rank,  plainly  but  handsomely  dressed. 

"  You  don't  recognize  us,  do  you,  Mr.  Gray  ?  " 

Trajan  owned  that  he  couldn't  recall  them.  Requesting 
him  to  favor  them  with  a  word  alone,  the  women  took  chairs 
and  glanced  at  Madame  Agay,  who,  with  a  defiant  sniff,  with 
drew,  fathomless  meaning  in  the  shrug  of  her  fat  shoulders. 

"  I  am  the  woman  whose  own  and  whose  baby's  life  you 
saved  on  the  steamer  from  Havre  to  New  York." 

"What,  Madame  Blaye?" 

"  Yes,  monsieur ;  I  am  come  not  to  ennuie  you  with 
empty  thanks,  but  to  warn  you  of  an  odious  conspiracy 
against  you.  I  will  be  very  brief.  This  is  my  sister.  She 
is  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  Odeon  arrondissement.  She 
lives  in  the  Rue  Auvergne.  Among  her  friends  is  Celeste 
who  was  fem?ne  de  chambre  with  the  family  Carnot  on  the 
Rue  Galilee.  Celeste  was  dismissed  for  some  petty  fault 
last  February.  She  is  a  hot-headed,  revengeful,  wicked 
girl  ;  but  that's  neither  here  nor  there.  She  nursed  her 


nV  LA  ROQUET TE.  631 

revenge  until  her  chance  came.  Under  the  commune  she 
was  protected  by  a  chief  who  was  powerful  during  the  first 
few  weeks.  Knowing  this,  Celeste  took  a  party  of  her 
friends,  and  under  pretext  of  pillaging  aristocrats,  robbed 
the  Carnot  house.  But  it  wasn't  so  much  the  robbery  she 
was  bent  on  as  securing  some  letters  of  Mademoiselle  Theo, 
some  of  which  she  had  seen,  before  she  left.  These  letters 
mainly  concern  you  !  " 

"  Me  !  "  exclaimed  Trajan.  "  How  can  they  concern 
me  ?" 

"  You,  Monsieur  Gray.  My  sister  here  was  called  in  to 
help  read  them,  for  Celeste  is  a  poor  hand  at  writing.  The 
letters  showed  that  Mademoiselle  Theo  had  paid  a  girl 
named  Nanette,  to  say  that  you  had  been  married  to  her 
when  you  first  came  to  the  quarter.  That  you  had  aban 
doned  her  and  her  child — " 

"  Why  it  was  I  who  saved  Nanette  from  the  workhouse  !  " 

"  Precisely.  But  what  the  letters  proved  you  can  see  for 
yourself.  What  my  sister  found  in  them  was  more  impor 
tant.  It  so  happened  that  they  gave  her  a  clue  to  a  mys 
terious  disappearance  last  year.  A  Monsieur  Philip  Kent 
had  married  a  young  girl  in  the  Church  of  St.  Etienne  in 
1863.  She  was  of  the  family  of  the  Counts  of  Dreze  in  the 
Rue  de  Blois.  The  marriage  was  kept  secret.  He  lived 
with  her  very  happily  for  a  year,  when  the  Prince  d'Amboise 
seduced  her  from  him.  He  never  knew  the  seducer,  but 
the  police  files  show  the  record.  So  soon  as  the  girl  was 
safely  out  of  Monsieur  Kent's  reach,  documents  were  for 
warded  him,  showing  that  he  had  in  ignorance  of  the  French 
law,  made  an  illegal  marriage.  The  girl  herself  wrote  this  to 
him.  He  returned  to  America  wild  with  remorse  and  shame, 
after  vain  attempts  to  get  his  little  boy.  In  time  the  prince, 
tiring  of  the  girl,  deserted  her.  She  went  back  to  her  sister 
in  the  Rue  Blois,  but  the  doors  were  closed  upon  her.  She 
was  taken  up  by  a  rich  Bonapartist,  but  in  time  remorse  and 
shame  drove  her  mad.  She  was  sent  to  Bicetre  by  the  man, 


632  TRAJAN. 

but  soon  recovered  the  appearance  of  reason.  She,  how 
ever,  was  a  reproach  to  her  sister,  who  had  her  watched  and 
thrust  into  the  asylum  whenever  she  could  get  a  pretext. 
Her  son  was  placed  en  pension  with  a  relative  of  Celeste's 
sweetheart,  in  the  Rue  St.  Etienne. 

"  One  day  the  child  was  missing,  and  the  police  finding  no 
clue  to  him,  the  poor  mother  went  raving  mad.  A  body  was 
found  in  the  Seine  about  the  time  that  she  disappeared,  and 
all  trace  of  the  tragedy  ends  there.  This  concerns  you  only 
in  the  fact  that  you  adopted  a  little  boy  about  that  time,  and 
from  the  letters  Celeste  stole,  the  plot  was  to  convict  you  of 
being  its  father,  and  destroy  you  with  the  family  with  whom 
you  are  in  such  close  rapport.  Monsieur  Arden  has  been 
apprised  of  the  facts.  He  was  sent  to  the  midwife,  Madame 
Tarbes,  Rue  des  Blancs  Manteaux.  She  has  told  me  and  my 
sister  the  story,  and  declared  that  she  was  half  inclined  to 
expose  the  conspiracy  herself,  as  Monsieur  Arden  had  paid 
her  more  generously  for  being  deceived  than  Mademoiselle 
Carnot  had  paid  her  for  carrying  out  the  conspiracy. 
Monsieur  Gray,  when  you  did  that  noble  deed  on  the  sea,  I 
prayed  that  I  might  some  time  have  a  chance  to  show  you 
that  I  could  be  grateful.  I  pray  to  the  bon  Dieu  that  I 
am  not  too  late  ;  that  you  have  not  been  made  to  suffer  !  " 

"  I  have  suffered,  and  I  see  why  now,  but  you  have  not 
come  too  late,"  said  Trajan,  in  a  strange  calm.  As  the 
women  arose  to  go  he  asked  : 

"  Did  Mademoiselle  Carnot  learn  Mr.  Kent's  relations  to 
this  conspiracy  ? " 

"  No  ;  that  is  a  matter  that  my  sister  alone  knows.  All 
the  archives  are  in  her  hands  in  the  bureau  arrondissement, 
where  on  an  order  from  the  prefect  of  police,  you  may 
see  them." 


VIA  ALLEGRO. 
CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

VIA  ALLEGRO. 

TRAJAN  left  the  studio  after  an  hour's  reflection,  the  idea 
of  preparing  for  departure  driven  from  his  mind.  All 
the  skeins  in  the  web  had  come  to  his  hands  in  an  instant. 
The  broken  engagement  of  Philip  in  New  York,  of  which  he 
had  heard  from  Papa  Carnot,  was  now  explained.  Theo's 
diabolic  purpose  to  humiliate  the  family  ;  her  persistent 
attempts  to  divide  Elliot  and  himself.  But  what  should  he 
do  ?  Bury  the  business  as  Elliot  had  evidently  done  and 
never  allude  to  it  ?  But  if  the  boy  were  Philip's,  could  he 
let  the  little  man  grow  up  ignorant  of  his  parentage  ?  What 
had  become  of  the  letters  ?  Into  whose  hands  had  they 
fallen  ?  Celeste  had  been  plundered  of  the  packet,  he  now 
recollected,  for  that  was  the  object  of  Grovel's  visit  in  the 
Rue  Fran9ois  Premier.  Obviously  it  was  his  duty  to  acquaint 
Philip  with  what  he  had  heard,  and  he  could  verify  the 
story  and  explain  the  discrepancies.  Philip  was  in  his  own 
room  reading  when  Trajan  knocked. 

"  Good  heavens,  Gray,  you  look  more  knocked  up  than 
when  we  were  marching  as  patriots  under  the  Red  Flag. 
What  is  it  ?  Have  you  heard  of  a  rival  carrying  off  a  prize 
in  your  own  best  loved  genre?  " 

"  Kent,  I'm  going  to  pain  you,  but  I  don't  see  how  I  can 
help  it.  I  think  it  the  only  way  out  of  a  sad  business,"  and 
he  told  him  the  story,  with  such  additional  circumstantial 
incidents  as  had  fallen  to  his  own  unconscious  agency. 

After  the  first  violent  shock,  Philip  listened  with  unmoved 
face.  He  changed  color  when  d'Amboise's  name  came  in, 
but  made  no  comment,  until  the  tragic  error  of  his  youth 
had  been  laid  bare.  He  dropped  his  head  between  his 
hands  when  the  story  was  ended  and  waited  a  long  time  be 
fore  he  made  any  reply.  Then  arising  walked  the  room  in 


634  TRAJAN. 

agitation,  as  if  to  collect  his  thoughts  before  deciding  on 
something  he  was  deliberating. 

"  I  hope  I  have  done  wisely,  Kent  ?  I  believed  it  to  be  for 
the  best  to  let  you  know." 

"  You  have  acted  wisely,  and  altogether  for  the  best, 
Gray,  as  you  always  do.  No  ;  my  silence  was  from  a  quite 
different  cause." 

He  walked  the  floor  again,  and  then  seating  himself,  and 
looking  away  from  Trajan  he  asked  : 

"  You  could  get  no  confirmation  of  the  woman's  death  in 
the  Rue  de  Blois  ?  " 

"  None.  Madam  Dreze  treated  me  as  if  she  suspected  me 
of  having  some  hand  in  her  sister's  misleading  and  death." 

"  The  letter  you  found  in  the  lilac  bushes  was  written  by 
my  father's  agent  two  years  before.  He  was  outraged  by 
the  marriage  and  thought  as  I  did  that  it  was  legal.  It  was 
because  we  both  thought  this  that  I  was  forced  to  break  off 
my  engagement  with  Miss  Carnot,  as  there  were  several 
people — young  men  of  my  set  who  knew  of  my  relations 
with — with  Angelique.  Her  desertion  cured  me  of  my 
infatuation — but  I  held  myself  none  the  less  legally  married 
to  the  poor  girl.  Had  she  not  evaded  me,  I  should  have 
procured  a  divorce  before  I  returned  to  America. 

"  But  believing  woman-like  that  it  was  through  passion  I 
was  tracing  her,  she  eluded  all  the  efforts  of  the  agents 
set  on  her  track,  and  it  was  through  them  that  the  matter 
entered  the  police  archives.  My  father  also  believed  that 
I  was  in  danger  of  succumbing  to  her  beauty — she  was 
wondrously  beautiful — and  kept  constant  espionage  on 
her,  so  far  as  he  could  trace  her,  and  upon  me.  He  found 
out  where  she  was,  entered  into  correspondence,  and  to  keep 
her  from  falling  in  my  way  wrote  her  that  cruel  letter  in  my 
name,  giving  her  money  to  go  to  New  Orleans.  He  told  me 
all  so  soon  as  the  letter  was  sent,  and  I  have  had  agents 
there  ever  since,  though  I  never  believed  that  she  had 
gone  to  America. 


•      VIA  ALLEGRO.  635 

"  She  is  dead.  The  boy,  the  little  Amedee,  you  will  give  me 
without  saying  any  thing  to  the  family.  They  need  never 
know  more  than  that  I  adopt  him  and  give  him  my  name.  You 
can  readily  disprove  the  calumnies  Elliot  has  been  hearing 
about  yourself.  I  have  the  letters  the  woman  speaks  of  ; 
Gibson  gave  them  to  me  to  hand  to  Grovel,  saying  they  con 
tained  political  secrets.  We  will  look  them  over  and  all  that 
are  needed  for  your  exoneration  you  may  take  ;  that 
incredible  little  she-devil  Theo  deserves  no  consideration. 
It  was  lucky  you  came  when  you  did  ;  I  was  going  to  drive 
up  there  this  afternoon  and  deliver  them  to  Lafayette." 

He  unwound  the  tape  and  began  the  work  of  verifying  the 
story  he  had  just  heard.  But  they  threw  light  on  his  own 
episode  by  corroboration  only.  The  evidence  of  Theo's 
malignly  adroit  handiwork  in  so  torturing  Annette's  admis 
sions  as  to  make  them  fit  Trajan,  unless  investigated  by 
a  court  of  law,  was  clear  and  complete.  Letters  of  quite  a 
different  character  were  mixed  among  these  disastrous 
memorials,  but  they  were  laid  aside,  so  far  as  possible,  un 
read.  The  reading,  however,  decided  Trajan  to  call  Elliot 
in  and  remove  any  doubts  that  he  might  have  on  the  matter. 
Philip  too  became  convinced  that  for  Amedee's  sake  'twere 
better  his  uncle  should  know  the  story  of  his  birth,  and 
'twould  be  as  well,  he  said,  to  tell  the  family.  Sent  for,  the 
young  man  came  in  and  colored  as  he  saw  the  open  letters 
spread  over  the  table. 

The  revelation  did  not,  he  said,  surprise  him  greatly.  He 
had  suspected  that  Madame  Tarbes  had  made  a  mistake  or 
aggravated  the  circumstances.  He  had  fancied  that  Trajan, 
like  many  others  he  knew,  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
peculiar  class  of  sharpers  always  lying  in  wait  for  young 
foreigners  and  had  been  mystified  into  a  mock  ceremony. 
But  when  Philip  followed  with  his  more  painful  story, 
Elliot  was  surprised  beyond  words.  He  saw  every  thing.  The 
persistent  plotting  of  Theo  to  shake  his  own  allegiance  to 
Bella  ;  the  duel  forced  upon  Philip  by  her  cousin  the  big 


636  TRAJAN. 

guardsman  ;  even  the  masque  at  St.  Cloud,  and  the  harping 
on  Arden  faithlessness  two  years  before,  when  the  intrigue 
began,  became  plain  parts  of  the  resolute  little  fury's  fabric 
of  artifice.  And  he  had  helped  and  fired  each  train,  as 
she  put  the  torch  in  his  hand.  He  grew  sick  with  shame  as 
the  past  came  back,  all  the  specters  grinning  at  him  in 
unveiled  ghastliness. 

"  Great  God,  Trajan,  to  think  of  the  figure  I've  cut  ! 
Without  my  cursed  vanity  and  heedlessness,  all  this  might 
have  been  spared  you.  Philip  might  even  have  made 
amends  to  that  unhappy  victim  Clare — before  that  little 
fiend  entrapped  her  into  marriage  with  Lafayette  !  I've 
learned  one  lesson.  I'll  never  make  confidence  of  any  thing 
concerning  my  friends,  and  I'll  never  share  a  secret.  Do 
you  know,  sir,  it  was  by  making  me  believe  that  you  were  in 
love  with  Bella,  that  she  blinded  me  into  the  fury  of  accept 
ing  this  odious  farrago  ?  That  too,  while  she  as  good  as 
said  she  would  marry  me,  when  some  obstacle,  she  never 
said  what,  should  be  removed  !  The  obstacle,  I  now  see 
from  these  letters,  she  was  not  sure  whether  to  accept  d'Am- 
boise  or  not." 

He  walked  the  room  as  Philip  had  done,  his  rage  choking 
him  as  the  pitiful  part  he  had  been  made  to  play  grew 
clearer  and  clearer.  "  And  ah,  Trajan,  you  implacable  old 
truepenny,  to  think  that  Philip  owes  the  rescue  of  his  boy 
to  our  casual  meeting  that  wonderful  afternoon  !  " 

"  The  bread,  Elliot,  has  returned  after  many  days,"  says 
Trajan  with  reverent  tone  that  would  have  alienated  his 
commune  co-disciples  of  the  Treize.  As  he  spoke,  Edith 
came  in,  looking  very  much  disturbed. 

"  Theo  is  in  the  salon  and  asks  to  see  you,  Trajan  !  " 

"  To  see  me,"  cries  he  trembling,  "I  won't  see  her.  I  won't 
breathe  the  same  air  with  her — she  is  infect — she — " 

"  Oh,  you  must  see  her,  Trajan  ;  you  can't  refuse,  as  she 
knows  you  are  in  the  house,"  cries  Elliot.  "  Perhaps,  after 
all,  it's  better  you  should,"  he  added  significantly. 


VIA   ALLEGRO.  637 

"  If  I  must,  so  be  it.  Edith,  if  you  have  any  desire  to 
please  me,  don't  go  back  to  her  ;  keep  from  the  contamina 
tion  of  her  odious  presence;  send  a  servant  to  show  her  into 
the  library,  I  will  go  in  there  ;  stay,  remain  here,  I  will  do 
it  myself,"  and  he  rose  in  a  good  deal  more  trepidation  than 
Philip  had  observed,  when  he  was  marched  off  in  the  rdle 
of  Elliot  with  the  patriots. 

Theo  came  rustling  into  the  library,  in  all  her  old  spirit, 
in  all  her  winning  loveliness.  Trajan  did  not  go  forward  to 
meet  her.  He  merely  placed  a  chair  and  stood  by  one  of  the 
book-cases,  where  the  light  was  behind  him.  Undaunted 
by  this  significant  reception  she  proffered  her  bewitchingly 
gloved  hand,  which  he  barely  touched  and  then  withdrew 
his  own  with  a  shudder.  She  was  keenly  alive  to  his  manner 
and  penetrated  him  with  her  inscrutable  eyes.  "  Is  it 
jealousy,"  she  asked,  "or  anger?  Whichever  it  be  I  have 
not  lost  my  power  ;  a  man  moved  enough  to  be  angry  is  a 
man  still  in  one's  power.  I  can  use  him  still  and  make 
better  use  than  with  that  egotistic  coxcomb  Elliot." 

"  You  wonder  at  my  asking  for  you,  Mr.  Gray — Trajan — 
I  love  that  name,  that — that  it  was  once  my  privilege  to — " 

"  Let  us  forego  reminiscences,  if  you  please,  Miss  Carnot  ; 
you  have  some  business  with  me  ?  " 

"  Oh,  Trajan,  this  is  not  like  the  confiding,  noble  man  I 
knew— I— I—" 

"  Miss  Carnot,  I  assure  you  I  can  not  consent  to  meet  you 
for  such  talk  as  this.  I  must  beg  you  to  avoid  it.  It  is  an 
injustice  to  yourself  and  dishonor  to  me.  There  is  no  past 
betwixt  us  ;  no  future  upon  which  that  past  can  have  the 
influence  even  of  a  cloud.  It  is  as  completely  obliterated  as 
if  it  had  never  been  !  "  She  laughed  a  low  musical  laugh, 
shrugged  her  pretty  shoulders  until  the  lace  buried  the 
lovely  face  in  a  Vandyke  setting  of  dainty  light  and  shade. 

"  Trh  Men,  obdurate  ;  void,  my  mission,  my  servant  Celeste 
stole  a  packet  of  letters,  containing  correspondence  carried 
on  by  Jules  and  my  father  with  Pietri,  relative  to  some 


638  TRAJAN. 

scrape  Jules  had  fallen  into.  That  packet  was  recovered 
by  an  Englishman  impressed  by  the  commune  in  the 
same  troop  with  my  brother-in-law,  a  Mr.  Gibson,  who  lost 
sight  of  Lafayette.  He  tells  me  he  gave  you  the  packet  in 
Roquette.  Have  you  them  ?  " 

"  I  will  send  the  man  who  has  them  to  you  ;  they  were 
given  to  Philip,  not  to  me." 

"  To  Philip  !  "  with  a  palpitation  of  relief,  as  when  a  clap 
of  thunder  startles  one  at  an  open  window  and  he  realizes 
that  the  lightning  ball  has  struck  far  off. 

"Is  this' all?"  and  he  moves  toward  the  door.  She  rises 
and  comes  to  him.  Her  wicked  sorceress  eyes  are  searching 
his  face  ;  her  breath,  the  incense  of  passion  and  seduction, 
fills  the  narrow  space  with  an  odor  of  damnable  desire.  She 
holds  out  the  shapeliest  little  hand,  a  diamond  glistening 
like  a  star  in  the  dim  light  of  the  room. 

"  It  is  the  end,  if  you  like,  Trajan  ;  I  had  something  else 
to  say  to  you  if  you  wished  it ;  but  it  is  too  late  now, 
isn't  it?" 

"  Yes,  it  is  too  late  ;  it  was  too  late  a  year  ago." 

She  starts  and  the  brown  and  crimson  turn  to  ghastliness 
in  her  round  cheeks  ;  for  the  first  time  in  her  career  she 
found  her  arts  met  with  indifference,  disdain. 

"  Then  this  is  the  end  ?"  she  whispered. 

"  This  is  the  end,  good -by."  He  turned  bowing,  with  no 
proffer  of  the  hand,  and  when  Philip  entered  a  minute  later 
she  was  looking  out  of  the  window,  a  lace  handkerchief  limp 
and  moist  in  her  hand. 

To  the  great  surprise  of  the  ladies  Philip  entering  the 
breakfast-room  a  half  hour  later,  made  Theo's  apologies  ; 
she  had  seen  her  brother  passing  and  had  hastened  to  catch 
him,  without  stopping  to  make  her  adieux. 

"  God  be  praised,  that's  the  last  of  Jezebel,"  exclaimed 
Kate,  with  startling  fervor. 

"  Good  Heavens,  Kate,  what  an  inveterate  hater  you  are," 
says  Mrs.  Arden,  with  benign  surprise.  "  I'm  sure  Theo  is 


VIA  ALLEGRO.  639 

delightful.    I  don't  know  what  we  should  have  done  without 
her  since  we  came  to  Paris." 

"  I  think  we  might  have  managed  to  exist  vera  weel," 
retorts  the  blood  of  Knox,  slyly  eying  the  abstracted  Elliot, 
reading  to  Bella  with  the  book  upside  down,  unless  the 
title  on  the  back  belied  the  letter-press  within. 


Here  the  manuscripts  from  which  this  writer  has  taken  the 
woof  of  this  history  come  to  an  end.  But  from  Kate,  who 
knows  every  thing,  devoted  as  she  is  to  the  evangelizing  of 
the  world,  I  am  enabled  to  trace  all  the  persons  who  have 
helped  or  hurt  the  fortunes  of  our  friends.  Rene  Belcour 
is  at  the  head  of  a  penny  journal  with  a  million  circulation 
in  Paris.  He  supported  Gambetta  in  his  victorious  combat 
with  MacMahon  in  1877,  and  refused  the  ministry  of  Public 
Instruction  when  the  dictator  became  Prime  Minister.  The 
funds  to  buy  the  journal  which  has  made  the  kind  fellow 
prosperous,  were  put  at  his  disposition  in  a  polite  note  from 
the  great  Rothschild,  who  refused  to  divulge  the  name  of 
the  unknown  benefactor  unless  the  enterprise  proved  a 
success,  and  then  Rene  learned  that  he  was  co-proprietor 
with  Arden  and  Kent.  La  Baronne  Pleinevide  made  such 
an  excellent  impression  on  the  impulsive  lady  of  Yahoo 
Gulch,  that  when  Antoine  came  to  them  in  London,  covered 
with  glory  and  scars,  she  never  gave  Jeptha  a  moment's 
peace  until  Amanda  laid  her  large  hands  to  the  heart  of 
the  big  guardsman  and  stilled  its  tumult.  They  are  settled 
in  Paris,  near  the  Great  House  of  the  Grovels,  now 
inhabited  by  the  Prince  d'Amboise  and  his  charming  princess 
Theo,  who  dazzles  Paris  with  her  costumes  and  equipages. 

Lafayette  acted  with  western  generosity,  so  soon  as  Jules 
confided  the  situation  to  that  impulsive  kinsman.  No  ques 
tion  of  money  should  stand  between  his  little  sister-in-law 
and  such  an  alliance.  She  was  given  the  great  house  in  the 


640  TRAJAN. 

Rue  de  Roi  Rome  and  a  sixth  interest  in  the  Ivanhoe  lode. 
The  prince  also  was  made  a  partner  in  that  mine  of  wealth 
and  elected  on  the  Board  of  Directors  to  exploit  it  in  Europe. 
Theo's  influence  with  the  Bellechasse  procured  the  prince 
the  proffer  of  the  premiership  in  1879,  but  the  success  of  the 
Republicans  and  the  timidity  of  the  marshal,  warned  him  to 
fly  the  failing  cause  of  monarchy.  Through  Jules  Carnot  he 
became  the  intimate  of  Gambetta,  who  proffered  him  the  em 
bassy  to  Russia,  during  his  short  lived  ministry. 

Theo,  foreseeing  Gambetta's  brief  tenure  of  power,  pre 
vailed  upon  him  to  refuse  the  distinction.  He  stood  for  one 
of  the  royalist  departments,  where  his  family  chateau  stands, 
and  defeated  the  communist  candidate  in  1878,  and  is 
regarded  as  the  future  premier,  whenever  the  Count  de  Paris 
comes  to  the  throne.  La  Baronne  lives  in  her  chalet  at 
Meaux,  where  the  honest  Amanda  often  remains  weeks  at  a 
time  with  her  little  boy  Antoine,  very  sad  and  tearful, 
because  the  big  Antoine  passes  all  his  time  with  opera 
dancers  or  in  the  clubs,  scattering  the  treasures  of 
Yahoo  Gulch.  The  dowager  consoles  the  poor  foreign  wife 
in  French  fashion,  and  the  sore  heart  of  Amanda  settles 
itself  on  her  little  boy.  Jules  has  become  an  under  secre 
tary  of  State  and  is  thought  to  be  growing  rich.  He  is  still 
the  favored  in  royalist  as  well  as  Republican  salons,  and  it 
is  rumored  he  is  to  marry  the  rich  Miss  de  la  Fleche,  who 
has  become  reconciled  to  her  ancient  friend  the  Princess 
d'Amboise. 

But  it  is  of  the  little  commune  on  the 'banks  of  the 
Hudson  that  Kate  loves  to  talk.  Within  a  few  hours  of 
New  York  the  Ardens  and  Grays  live  in  villa-like  edifices, 
which  all  who  pass  stop  to  admire.  They  were  devised  by 
Trajan  and  executed  by  one  of  his  old  camarades  in  the 
Beaux  Arts.  In  Trajan's  Villa,  where  Bella — now  Bella 
Arden — sometimes  comes  with  the  bonne  and  little  Edith, 
her  daughter,  there  is  a  wonderful  attic  studio,  so  like  the 
Rue  Dragon,  that  if  it  were  not  for  the  little  boys  and  girls 


VIA  ALLEGXO.  641 

that  share  it  as  a  playroom  with  Trip  and  Betty,  you  would 
swear  it  was  honest  Madame  Agay's  cinquicme.  When  Bella 
brings  little  Edith,  Mistress  Edith  Gray  compares  Elliot's 
first  born  with  Trajan's  black-eyed  boy,  and  the  two  mothers 
make  their  plans  and  tell  how  the  baby  Edith  and  baby 
Trajan  are  to  marry  as  their  fathers  did  before  them  ! 

Philip  and  his  little  boy  Amedee  abide  in  the  pretty  cot 
tage  you  see  in  the  Arden  grounds.  Madame  Blaye  is  the 
housekeeper  and  Kate  is  its  mistress,  devoting  herself  to  erad 
icating  the  seeds  of  idolatry  from  the  young  papist's  mind,  an 
effort  which,  much  to  Philip's  amusement,  is  not  so  success 
ful  as  the  descendant  of  Knox  confidently  imagines.  For 
Madame  Blaye  is  as  stout  for  mother  church  as  Kate  for  the 
conventicle,  and  the  little  Amedee  passes  many  an  hour  with 
the  small  Blayes  in  the  seductive  forms  of  the  Roman,  church 
— occasionally  smuggled  into  the  village  chapel,  when  Kate 
is  off  her  guard. 

Trajan  has  grown  a  little  stouter  and  irremediably  good 
humored.  In  New  York,  one  day,  with  Edith  on  his  arm, 
who  should  he  come  upon  in  the  Central  Park  art -gallery 
but  the  Princess  Theo  and  her  noble  spouse.  Theo  saw 
them  first,  and  carrying  the  prince  with  her,  came  up 
with  gay  recognition.  The  gentle  Edith  shrank  away 
trembling,  but  Trajan  with  humorous  composure  cordially 
shook  the  proffered  hand  of  the  princess  and  her  husband's. 
They  were  on  a  tour  through  the  country,  to  wind  up  with  a 
visit  at  Napoleonville,  where  the  prince  was  to  examine  his 
Gulch  interests,  she  informed  them  in  a  rattling  humorous 
way  that  struck  Mistress  Edith  dumb.  The  prince  too  was 
affably  cordial  and  declared  to  Trajan  that  he  thought  of 
demanding  a  commission  on  his  pictures  in  Paris,  as  Theo 
had  made  him  the  vogue  by  giving  the  portrait  he  had 
painted  of  her  the  place  of  honor  in  the  palace  on  the  Rue 
de  Roi  de  Rome,  and  talked  of  his  genius  so  incessantly 
that  every  one  who  bought  pictures  must  possess  a  Gray  in 
the  collection  !  When  the  prince  mentioned  "  commission," 


642  TRAJAN. 

Theo  blushed  divinely,  and  the  party  separated  with  the 
politest  possible  an  revoir,  Theo  insisting  that  Edith  must 
call  on  her  at  the  "  Clarendon." 

What  more  is  there  to  tell  ?  If  you  were  to  ask  Kate,  she 
would  have  as  much  again  as  you  have  read  in  these  pages. 
But  the  trials  and  uncertainties  are  done,  and  who  has 
patience  to  follow  the  tiresome  felicities  of  Darby  and  Joan  ? 
Trajan  is  still  a  believer  in  the  commune  creed  and  is 
engaged  in  a  great  work  which  is  to  open  the  eyes  of  the 
world  on  that  much  abused  system — but  Elliot  laughs  slyly 
when  he  is  asked  to  listen  to  the  tumultuous  rhetoric  of  the 
enthusiast  as  he  elaborates  each  chapter,  and  the  last  heard 
of  the  manuscript,  the  first  volume  was  encountering  polite 
refusals  and  inappreciation  from  those  hard-hearted  allies  of 
oligarchic  greed,  the  publishers. 

And  so  the  curtain  doesn't  go  down,  but  the  scene  fades 
with  the  faint  odor  of  orange  blossoms  and  the  echo  of 
the  marriage  bells  that  chime  away  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
strangely  united  destinies ;  and  as  the  shadowy  forms  that 
have  piped  and  played,  danced  and  caroled,  sighed  and 
wept,  sinned  and  repented,  fade  into  the  busy  world  of 
fancy,  the  author  bids  them  a  regretful  good-by;  he  bespeaks 
them  indulgence  from  the  gentle  reader,  whose  patience  they 
have  tried  :  those  who  have  condemned  as  well  as  those  who 
have  applauded  and  approved,  their  waywardness,  weakness, 
their  virtues  and  constancy,  and  with  this  prayer  he  bids  the 
kind  reader  an  affectionate  farewell. 


THE  END. 


vipF^ 


14  DAY  USE 

tgj    RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

RENEWALS  ONLY— TEL.  NO.  642-3405 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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